THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The first match on day two of the 2014 NCAA Division III Volleyball Thousand Oaks Regional featured Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Colorado College. In a five-setter to advance to the Regional final on Sunday, the Athenas were forced to dig out of a 2-1 hole and ultimately earned a 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-13) victory.
The first two points of the opening set lasted nearly a minute, setting the tone for the match, which was full of long rallies and momentum shifts. The first game belonged to the Athenas who never trailed, but the Tigers took the reins in the second, storming back to take that game and the third. CMS clawed back into contention in the fourth with a come-from-behind win after the teams combined for nine ties and seven lead changes, forcing a fifth and final game, which ultimately went to the Athenas as well.
The deciding game saw Claremont-Mudd-Scripps combine for a .308 hitting percentage, its best average of the night, especially after a dismal -.042 showing in the third. To open the fifth game Courtney Birkett served an ace and CC built a 3-0 lead. The Athenas would earn the next point to get on the board and the teams would continue to battle. Nicole Kerkhof got a kill to break a 12-12 tie and CMS looked to Audrey Breitwieser for the winning kill to cap off the game and match.
Clearly evenly matched teams, CC and CMS recorded 63 and 60 kills, respectively with 61 and 59 assists. Colorado College hit at a higher overall percentage of .170, but at the end of the day the Athenas prevailed. The Tigers were also more effective at the net with 11.0 total blocks from 20 block assists and a solo stop by Kaimara Herron while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps totaled just 6.0 total blocks with Sarah Bruml notching a pair of solo stops, adding three of eight team block assists.
In the match, seven different players earned double figure kills, led by CMS' Breitwieserwith 22. Holtzewas the leader for CC with 16. Rebecca Watson set up the Tigers for 44 assists and for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Tanner Hoke (25) and Clara Madsen (24) split time nearly matching one another. Watson was lights out swinging as well, with an incredible .556 hitting percentage with 10 kills on 18 opportunities without an error. Each team put down five service aces in the match. Kerkhof was responsible for four of the CMS aces and Birkett tallied three for CC.
Colorado College (30-9) used 10 players tonight and will bid farewell to a pair of seniors.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (26-6) will play for a regional title tomorrow.
The NCAA Division III Volleyball Thousand Oaks Regional Championship will take place on Sunday, Nov. 16 between CMS and the winner of the Cal Lutheran/Trinity match, which will take place this evening, at 2:00 p.m. inside of the Gilbert Arena. The winning team will advance to play at the National Championships on Nov. 21-23 in Newport News, Va.
Tournament Central: 2014 NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament
Box Score: Match 5 - CMS 3, CC 2
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