Tournament Website
 
PICTURED: Millikin senior outside hitter Erin Syversen (LEFT) and Carthage sophomore setter Ellie LeCount (RIGHT).
 
DECATUR, Ill. – Carthage and Millikin will face off for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Volleyball Tournament title at 6 p.m. on Saturday after both teams won its respective semifinal match Friday night.
 
The second-seeded Lady Reds defeated No. 3 seed Illinois Wesleyan 25-23, 30-28, 25-21 in the first semifinal match as senior middle blocker Megan Behrendt led with a game-high 16 kills to go along with 10 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Shannon Kebisek also finished with double digit kills (11) and digs (15).
 
The top-seeded Big Blue defeated No. 4 seed Elmhurst 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 as senior outside hitter Erin Syversen led with a game-high 20 kills. Senior right side/middle hitter Alora Goodey finished with 15 kills, a .591 hitting percentage and had only two errors in 22 attempts.
 
The only other time the two teams faced each other in the tournament final was 2014 when Carthage beat Millikin in a five-set match. The Big Blue topped the Lady Reds in five sets in their regular season match on October 18. Millikin has won four tournament titles in program history, while Carthage has won nine times.
 
Saturday’s winner will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. The full bracket will be announced at 11:30 a.m. CST on Monday, November 6 via an NCAA.com Selection Show.
 
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2016-17 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,900 academic all-conference recipients, 10 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, one CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and over 100 all-Americans.