Thursday, November 20
5:00 p.m. - Gangelhoff Center - St. Paul, Minn.
No. 4 seed #9 Nebraska-Kearney (32-3) vs. No. 5 seed #22 Augustana College (23-11)
BOX SCORE
RECAP: ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was a back and forth battle between the four and five seeds, but it was the fourth seed, #9 Nebraska-Kearney (32-3) who came out on top in the fifth set with a 25-27, 25-17, 17-25, 25-23, 15-11 in the NCAA Division II Central Region Quarterfinal round played at Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia University, St. Paul on Thursday afternoon.
The first set of the match set the tone for the night with the exception of the final outcome as the Vikings took a tough set, 27-25. But UNK answered with a resounding 25-17 second set win with Augie providing the same score in a third set decision. The decisive third set gave Augustana the upper hand in the match, and the momentum as the match extended to extra sets.
But in the fourth set, just as in the second set, the Lopers had the answer, this time a much tighter outcome in a 25-23 win to put the game into its final frame.
In the fifth set, the Lopers stayed hot and would capitalize on a Viking team that played tight in the matches final moments, including a rare ace of Augie as the match came winding to a close.
Nebraska-Kearney featured a spread out offensive attack led by setter Cola Svec, who distributed kills to four of her teammates into the double-digit range with a total of 62 assists. On the other side of the net, Augustana rode a pair of hot hitters through the match, with career-highs by Cayla Schroeder and Ellen Andrews who provided 24 and 23 kills, respectively. The Lopers had one hitter reach the 20 mark, Nikki Scott, who had exactly that number while two of her teammates, Shelby Workman and Chelsie Carson, each struck 15 to the floor.
Augustana's offense was directed by Lisa Hoegh who had 60 assists and her 11 digs gave her a double-double. Svec also had a double-double for UNK as she piled up 15 digs.
Defensively, Schroeder was all over the floor as she added 25 digs to her 24 kills, leading all players in both statistics. In the post game press conference, Schroeder talked about finishing with a great performance (watch below!). UNK's Kelli Wemhoff led the Lopers with 21 digs.
UNK Match Notes: UNK is in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th-straight season ... this is the first time in school history that the Lopers have faced a team from the NSIC in the first round ... UNK is now 23-12 in the NCAA Tournament ... UNK is now 2-0 vs. Augustana in the NCAA Tournament ... the last time the two teams faced each other in the NCAA Tournament was in 1994 in Sioux Falls, S.D., on the Augustana campus ... this is UNK’s second-straight opening round win and 11th opening round win since 1994.
Augie Match Notes: This is Augustana's 14th NCAA appearance and sixth consecutive ... the Vikings are 8-14 all-time in NCAA tournament play ... Augustana is 4-9 versus ranked opponents this season ...
Press Conference Video:
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY QUOTES:
Head Coach Rick Squires:
Opening Statement: “It was one of those matches that could have gone either way. Hats off to Augustana for playing such a tough match. We’re extremely happy and proud of our kids for the way they played.”
On facing new opponent: “We were familiar with their style, that they were athletic and played great defense.”
On game four momentum: “I think anytime you’re going into a fifth game, if you’re the team that won the fourth game you have the momentum to go with it. We were able to play with a one, two point lead. At that point it just comes down to a play here and a play there. We were able to capitalize under a high stress situation.”
On balanced attack: “We generally feel that we have a balanced attack. We did whatever we needed to get a kill.”
Sophomore setter Cola Svec
On being down games one and three: “We knew from the start we we’re going to have to fight like crazy. We told ourselves we gotta keep fighting.”
On balanced attack: “My goal is to get hitters kills. Part of that is faking out the middle hitter on the other side and pushing the ball to wherever it needs to go to get a kill.”
Junior middle hitter Nikki Scott
On playing having to play five games for a victory: “We were heartbroken after last week’s loss (in the RMAC Tournament). We knew that to get a win you have to play all five games and that you can’t let down.”
AUGUSTANA QUOTES
Head Coach Ashley Buckley:
Opening Statement: "This was a hard fought match by both teams. We're certainly disappointed. Any time you lose you're going to be disappointed but Kearney is a respectable team. We got a little tight at end."
Expanding on her comment about her team being tight: "We got tight defensive and on our serve receive. The key for us all season has been ball control and how we handle serve reception. Tonight, we were tight with our ball control."
On hitters Cayla Schroeder and Ellen Andrews: "They both had career highs (in kills). Cayla put the ball away and dug up a lot of balls as well. Ellen hit .435 and had a great night. She found a way to score for us."
About Nebraska-Kearney: "They're good offensively. They're quite a bit bigger than we are. We knew they would run a lot of slides and at times we did good job of containing them, but it's tough when they've got so many players who can do such a good job offensively."
Senior outside hitter Cayla Schroeder:
On playing her last collegiate match: "You always want to play your heart out, especially in your last match. You want to go out feeling good about the way you played."
Senior setter Lisa Hough:
On setting up her hitters: "I've got to get my feet moving to the ball and see their middle (block). I try to get our hitters on one-on-one blocks as much as possible but I want to set our hitters who are hot."
On player her last collegiate match: "Playing hard against a good team is how we wanted to go out and we did that tonight."
