Monmouth, Ill. - Both St. Norbert and Beloit were winners in their respective semifinal matches at the 2010 Midwest Conference Volleyball Tournament and will play for a spot in the 2010 NCAA Tournament tomorrow. St. Norbert defeated Monmouth 3-1 while Beloit downed Lake Forest by the identical score.
In the first match of the night Beloit jumped out to a two set lead and never looked back as they dispatched of Lake Forest 3-1. The Bucs won the first, second and fourth sets by the scores of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-17 and dropped the third set 25-16.
Laura Toth led the way for Beloit with a game-high 21 kills, also picking up six blocks. Mary Parker (12) and Tess Jacquez (10) also collected double-figure kills in the match for the Buccaneers. Parker also registered a team-high 20 digs while Jacquez picked up 14 as both players recorded double-doubles. Caitlin O’Leary dished out 36 assists in the win.
For the Foresters, Cori Cooper was the only player to gather double-figure kills with 10. Molly McCloskey had seven kills for Lake Forest who hit .000 for the match as a team. Tia Rupnik picked up a game-high 21 digs and Cooper chipped in 19 digs in the loss.
In the second semifinal of the night the fourth seed Green Knights downed the host Fighting Scots 3-1. St. Norbert captured wins in sets one, three and four by the scores of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-11, while losing the second set 25-23.
St. Norbert was led by two players with double-figure kills in Lauren Meehan (15) and Danielle Remy (10). The Green Knights defense was stellar all night with four players recording double-figure digs, led by Catherine Guido with a game-high 27. Katie Stewart had 27 assists and three service aces as the Green Knights out hit the Fighting Scots .185-.066.
For Monmouth, Chelsey Widdop (16 kills, 11 digs) and Megan Creen (11 kills, 16 digs) both led the Fighting Scots charge with double-doubles. Mollie Murdock was a dig shy of joining the double-double list as she had 36 assists and nine digs while Jenna Bean (15) and Emily Kauzlarich (13) also had solid defensive games.
St. Norbert and Beloit will meet tomorrow to decide who will receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The MWC Tounament Championship match will begin at 1 p.m. Those not able to attend the game can watch all the action at
www.pennatlantic.com.