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Championship Preview

EAU CLAIRE SET TO HOST MIDWEST VOLLEYBALL REGIONAL

EAU CLAIRE - The McPhee Physical Education Center will be the home of the seven-team NCAA Division III Midwest Regional this Thursday through Saturday.

This should be one of the more competitive regions in the 60-team field. Six of the top ten nationally ranked teams will be in Eau Claire. The regional consists of the top four teams from the Midwest Region and the two of the top three teams in the Central Region.

Action begins Thursday afternoon when the University of St. Thomas (MN) (28-6) faces UW-Oshkosh (32-5) at 3:30 p.m. The Tommies, who are ranked ninth in the latest AVCA poll, have faced all three teams from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), defeating both Eau Claire and Whitewater, but losing to first round opponent Oshkosh. The Tommies have also faced fellow Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) member Concordia-Moorhead, losing both of those matches.

St. Thomas, making their second consecutive championship appearance, will be led by senior Rachelle Dosch. Dosch has 1,835 digs and 1,681 kills and is the only player in MIAC history to rank in the top 10 in both categories on the career stats. She needs four kills to reach No. 5 in each category on the MIAC career lists. Dosch was named to the AVCA All-Central Region team.

The tenth-ranked UW-Oshkosh Titans will be making their 11th championship appearance. The Titans, the WIAC regular season co-champion, have 1-0 records against Carthage and St. Thomas this season, while posting marks of 1-1 against UW-Whitewater and 0-1 against Concordia College and UW-Eau Claire. Leah Rosenbaum, who led the WIAC with a .400 attack percentage this season, will lead Oshkosh. Rosenbaum also had 471 kills, which was third most in the conference. Rosenbaum and teammate Kim Vail were selected to the AVCA All-Midwest Region Team.

The winner of this match will face defending national champion UW-Whitewater, who received a first round bye. No. 6 Whitewater captured its 11th WIAC Tournament championship and its seventh in the last 10 years last weekend. This will be the Warhawks' 15th consecutive championship appearance. The Warhawks split against UW-Oshkosh; defeated UW-Eau Claire twice, lost to St. Thomas, and defeated Carthage this season. Rebekah Nelson and Carley Polk will head the attack for the Warhawks. Nelson has 400 kills and Polk has 403 kills. Nelson and Polk are All-Midwest Region selections.

The second first round match Thursday will take place at 6 p.m. between Concordia-Moorhead (MN) (24-1) and Beloit College (21-8). The third-ranked Concordia Cobbers set a MIAC record this week with their 33rd straight top 25 appearance. The Cobbers won the MIAC regular season title and the conference tournament championship last week to get the automatic bid and make their fourth consecutive championship appearance. Concordia defeated St. Thomas twice and Oshkosh one this season. The Cobbers will be led by Becca Shane, who was named the MIAC's Most Valuable Player. Shane led the MIAC in conference matches in blocks per game (1.37) and was third in kills per game (4.61) and fourth in hitting percentage (.342). Shane, along with teammate Danielle Dahl, was named the All-Central Region Team.

Like the Concordia, Beloit, out of the Midwest Conference, won the regular season and conference tournament titles. It will be the Buccaneers first ever NCAA Championship appearance. The only team from the regional the Bucs has faced this season has been Carthage, a match that they lost. Katelynn Rynders leads the Bucs with 336 kills this season.

The final first round match will be between the host UW-Eau Claire (28-3) and Carthage College (29-4). The seventh-ranked Blugolds, the other WIAC regular season co-champion, make their second consecutive NCAA Championship appearance and their ninth in school history. Two of the three Blugolds losses this season have come against UW-Whitewater. The other loss came against St. Thomas earlier this season in the finals of the Augsburg Tournament. Eau Claire defeated Oshkosh by a score 3-0 also this season. Jodi Dunbar leads the Blugolds with 441 kills and is second in the WIAC averaging 4.28 kills per game. Jessica Groh leads the WIAC in blocks with 1.60 per game. Groh, Carly Freiborg, and Shanna Berger were named to the All-Midwest Region Team.

Eighth-ranked Carthage will make their second consecutive appearance in the championship. The Lady Reds won the regular season College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) title and the tournament title. Last year, the Lady Reds lost to UW-Oshkosh in the opening round. Carthage lost to both UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh this season in five games and defeated Beloit. Jori Simmons will lead the Lady Reds as she was named the CCIW Player of the Year and an All-Midwest Region selection. Simmons was second in the league in attack percentage (.375) and fifth in blocks (1.12 per game).

The semifinals will take place at 4:30 and 7 p.m. on Friday night and the championship match will be at 7 p.m. Saturday night. All of the action will take place in the McPhee Physical Education Center.