Millikin Rallies Past Capital

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - In the day's second upset, and in terms of seeding differential the first of consequence, No. 7 seed Millikin downed second-seeded Capital 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2005 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Tournament at Wittenberg's HPER Center.

The win improved Millikin, the regular season College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin runner-up, to 29-9 overall on the 2005 season. Capital, the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament titlist, bowed out of its first NCAA Division III Tournament with a 32-5 overall record.

In their fourth appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Big Blue rallied on two occasions to pull out the victory. After dropping the first game, 30-27, Millikin won the second and third games by stunningly wide margins of 30-24 and 30-16. That set the stage for the decisive Game 4.

Capital streaked out to a 24-18 lead in the final game and appeared to have things in hand. But Millikin, with Jamie Florey contributing three kills and Jenny Moery adding three service aces, went on a 9-0 run to turn the tables. Capital came back to take a 29-28 lead, but Millikin closed it out with three straight points.

Millikin put four players in double figures offensively, led by Rachel Cook's 19 kills. The Big Blue finished with 75 kills as a team, including 15 kills from Florey, 13 from Moery, 13 from Kate Schnake and 10 from Sam Synowiecki. Jessica LeClaire finished with 32 assists and Jackie Christensen added 30, while the Big Blue's defense was paced by Synowiecki with 22 digs. Katie Crumley added 20 digs to the winning effort.

Capital was paced offensively by 12 kills from Jordan Centers and 10 kills from Jessie Hampson, while Heather Kwiatkowski and Kara Guster combined for 37 assists. Marie Zumberger led the defense with 22 digs.

Millikin advanced to the regional semifinals for just the second time in school history, where the Big Blue will square off with Calvin, a 3-0 winner over Hiram in an earlier match. The two teams will take the court at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

2005 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Tournament Home Page