Carthage Lone cciw representative at ncaa division iii volleyball championship

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Carthage College, champions of the 2008 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Volleyball Tournament, earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship and will be the only school from the CCIW to play in the national tournament.

Carthage (30-4) will face St. Norbert (30-3) in the first round on Thursday, November 13 at 3:30 p.m. with the winner to play against either Calvin (26-4) or Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-9) in the second round. Wisconsin-Oshkosh will host all three games.

The Lady Reds topped Augustana in the championship game of the conference tournament on Saturday, winning by the game scores of 18-25, 25-15, 25-10, and 25-23. The win earned Carthage its third straight CCIW tournament title.

Carthage finished the regular season with a 7-0 record in conference play, which extended its CCIW regular season winning streak to 37 matches. The Lady Reds have not lost a conference match in the regular season since 2003.

Carthage defeated No. 8 seed North Park 3-2 on Tuesday night in the play-in match, and No. 5 seed Elmhurst, 3-0 in the semifinal match on Friday.

Augustana advanced to the CCIW Volleyball Tournament as a No. 6 seed, defeating No. 3 seed Illinois Wesleyan 3-0 in the play-in game last Tuesday, and then winning its semifinal game on Friday over No. 2 seed North Central, 3-1.

2008 CCIW Volleyball All-Tournament Team
Katie Lundgren - Carthage (Tournament MVP)
Rachel Swoboda - Carthage
Michelle Madeja - Carthage
Angela Baumgartner - Augustana
Jackie Rust - Augustana
Stephanie Ryding - North Central
Caitlin O'Hara - Elmhurst

Tournament Results

Friday, November 7 (Semifinals)
#6 Augustana def. #2 North Central, 27-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-20
#1 Carthage def. #5 Elmhurst, 25-19, 25-14, 25-22

Saturday, November 8 (Championship)
#1 Carthage def. #6 Augustana, 18-25, 25-15, 25-10, 25-23