UD's Season Comes To End At NCAA Regional
Nov 9, 2018
CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Dubuque volleyball team ran into a buzz saw that was #10 University of Chicago and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 3-0 (13-25,20-25,20-25).
It looked as if there were no initial jitters from the Spartans, as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 start to open the match but Chicago quickly erased that lead and at one point go on an 11-3 run to blow the set open to 20-9 and take the opening set 25-13. The second set began with Chicago taking the first three points before UD stormed back to grab a 7-4 lead. From that point on the set remained near even until the Maroons scored three straight points to move their lead from 19-18 to 22-18 and give them enough of a cushion to make the Spartans did not come back and took the set 25-20.
The Spartans would not go quietly, building an 8-2 lead in an effort to stave off elimination but the Maroons would chip away and even the set at 11 all. In the third set alone, the set was tied at eight different points, the last point coming at 17-17. The Maroons scored back to back points to grab a 20-18 lead and the Spartans could not knot the set up again as they would not be able to find another rally and dropped the third set 25-20 and match, 3-0.
UD thrived getting blocks on the defensive end all season long, however against the Maroons, the Spartans were able to record just two blocks to their six.
The Spartans attack was led by Isabel Cleary and Sarrah Farraday with eight each. The A-R-C MVP, Kara Wright was right behind them with seven of her own. Kate Messino did a little bit of everything, recording five kills on nine attempts, dishing out 25 assists and coming up with 11 digs. In her final game as a Spartan, Jenna Runde had 10 digs and seven assists.
The Spartans historic season comes to a close with a 24-9 overall record, an American Rivers Conference Tournament Championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1998.
