April 11, 2008
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
World Wide Web: www.carthage.edu
Carthage Falls to Washington (Mo.)NCAA Regional Championship Match;
Lady Reds Finish Fabulous 2007 Season with 33-5 Record
2007 NCAA Midwest Regional: The Carthage College women’s volleyball team (33-5, 7-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked sixth in the final, regular season American Volleyball Coaches Association/CSTV NCAA Division III poll, lost to No. 7 Washington University (Mo., 30-5), 3-1, on Saturday, Nov. 10 in the championship match of the NCAA Division III Regional Championship at the Carthage Physical Education in Kenosha, Wis. The Bears’ winning game scores over the Lady Reds were 28-30, 30-27, 30-16 and 30-20. Carthage swept Calvin College (30-5), 3-0, on Friday, Nov. 9 semifinals. The Lady Reds’ winning games scores over the Knights were 30-26, 30-23 and 30-7. No. 7 Washington (Mo., 29-5) outlasted No. 14 Wisconsin-Oshkosh (32-6), 3-2, in the other semifinal, with the Bears winning, 27-30, 30-26, 28-30, 30-24 and 15-9. In the Nov. 8 quarterfinals, Carthage swept Carroll College (Wis., 20-14), 3-0, with the Lady Reds winning 30-21, 30-11 and 30-17. Three other quarterfinal matches were played on Nov. 8. No. 7 Washington University (Mo., 28-5) swept Hanover College (23-11), 3-0, with No. 14 Wisconsin-Oshkosh (32-5) outlasting Wisconsin-Platteville (24-13), 3-2, and No. 15 Calvin College (30-4) defeating No. 18 Wisconsin-La Crosse (24-1), 3-1. Washington’s winning game scores over Hanover were 30-19, 30-22 and 30-23; Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s game-winning scores over Wisconsin-Platteville were 26-30, 30-22, 30-32, 30-26 and 15-13; and Calvin’s winning game scores over Wisconsin-La Crosse were 26-30, 30-26, 30-20 and 30-15.
2007 CCIW Tournament: Carthage was the host team for the Friday-Saturday, Nov. 2-3 CCIW Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Carthage Physical Education Center in Kenosha, Wis. Carthage won the tournament, along with the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship, with a 3-0 sweep of Augustana College (Ill., 22-13) on Saturday, Nov. 3. Carthage’s winning game scores over Augustana (Ill.) were 30-26, 30-20 and 30-18. In semifinal action on Friday, Nov. 2, Carthage defeated Illinois Wesleyan University (20-17), 3-1. The Lady Reds’ winning game scores over the Titans were 30-18, 22-30, 30-18 and 30-26. In Friday’s first semifinal match, Augustana College (Ill., 22-12) defeated Wheaton College (Ill., 25-9), 3-1. Augustana’s winning game scores over Wheaton were 29-31, 33-31, 30-25 and 37-35. Carthage’s Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central) was named tournament MVP, while teammates Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) and Rachel Swoboda (Fr., De Pere, Wis./Wrightstown) were named to the all-tournament team, along with Jamie Spolum and Mallory Thelander from Augustana (Ill.), Jenna Passananti from Illinois Wesleyan and Annie Himmelhaver from Wheaton (Ill.).
Kelly Bauer and Jori Simmons Named 2007 AVCA All-America: Carthage setter/right side player Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central, .348 attack percentage, 7.29 assists per game) and middle blocker Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East, .407 attack percentage, 1.23 blocks per game) were named 2007 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America. Bauer was named to the first team, while Simmons earned second-team honors. Both players were named AVCA first-team All-Midwest Region. Simmons was named AVCA honorable mention All-America in both 2005 and 2006. Right side player Rachel Swoboda (Fr., De Pere, Wis./Wrightstown) was named AVCA Midwest Region “Freshman of the Year,” while head coach Leanne Ulmer earned AVCA “Midwest Region Coach of the Year” for the second-straight season.
Five Lady Reds Named 2007 All-CCIW: Five member of the Carthage team were named All-CCIW, and setter/right side player Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central) was named first-team all-conference and CCIW “Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year.” Along with Bauer, middle blocker Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was also named first-team All-CCIW. Outside hitter Sarah Carlino (Jr., Kildeer, Ill./Lake Zurich) and right side player Rachel Swoboda (Fr., De Pere, Wis./Wrightstown) earned second-team All-CCIW honors, with Swoboda being named CCIW “Newcomer of the Year.” Outside hitter Ashley Kuehl (Sr., McFarland, Wis.) was named third-team all-conference. Bauer is a four-time All-CCIW honoree, first team in 2004 and 2005 and second team in 2006. Simmons is a four-time first-team selection and last season’s “player of the year.” Kuehl was a first-team all-conference honoree last year. Head coach Leanne Ulmer was named CCIW “Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year” for the third time. She also earned the award in 2002 and 2006.
Jori Simmons Named 2007 Academic All-America®: Carthage middle blocker Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was named College Sports Information Directors of America/ESPN the Magazine first-team College-Division Academic All-America®. Simmons, a CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine third-team Academic All-American® last year, has a double major in business administration and marketing with a 3.93 cumulative grade-point average. She earned third-team honors in 2006. Simmons and setter/right side player Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central) were named CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine first-team district 5 (Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin) all-academic, and both players advanced to the national ballot. Bauer, a double major in history and political science, carries 3.89 GPA.
Jori Simmons Featured on ESPN Classic in September: Carthage College women’s volleyball player Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was featured on a September segment of “NCAA On Campus.” The 30-minute, monthly show resides on the NCAA web site and was shown live on ESPN Classic on Sept. 19. The show was also re-broadcast on ESPNU on Sept. 24 and Sept. 25. Simmons was selected by DL Images producer Lee Nassau as a returning CoSIDA Academic All-American® member. Carthage women’s soccer player Michelle Jorwic (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill./York) hosted the show, which was filmed on Aug. 28, and several other Carthage student athletes were also filmed in a “What’s on Your iPod/What’s on Your TIVo®?” segment.
Leanne Ulmer Named 2007 Regional Coach of the Year: Carthage College women’s volleyball coach Leanne Ulmer was named American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III “Midwest Regional Coach of the Year” in 2007 for the second-straight season. Ulmer led Carthage to a 33-5 record in 2007, as the Lady Reds won their fourth-consecutive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship. Carthage has won 30-consecutive regular-season CCIW matches dating back to 2003. The team was ranked as high as No. 5 in the AVCA/CSTV NCAA Division III poll this season, the highest ranking in the school’s history.
Jori Simmons Named 2006 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American: Carthage’s Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was named College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN the Magazine third-team Women’s Volleyball College Division Academic All-American®, as well as first-team All-District 5 all-academic (Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin). Simmons, a double major in business administration and marketing with a 3.93 cumulative grade-point average, is Carthage’s first CoSIDA Academic All-American since women’s track and field member Kim Deaton earned second-team honors in 1999 and first-team honors in 2000.
The Polls: Carthage College was ranked sixth in the final, regular-season American Volleyball Coaches Association/College Sports Television NCAA Division III poll. Wittenberg University (34-0, 24 first-place votes) led the poll, followed by Juniata College (33-4) second, Trinity University (34-2) third, the University of LaVerne (26-6) fourth, Emory University (30-6) fifth, Carthage (31-4) sixth, Washington University (Mo., 27-5) seventh, Wisconsin-Whitewater (31-4) eighth, California State University-East Bay (28-4) ninth, Ohio Northern University (27-6) 10th, Austin College (37-5) 11th, the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 26-4) 12th, Pacific Lutheran University (23-3) 13th, Wisconsin-Oshkosh (31-5) 14th and Calvin College (29-4) ranked 15th.
The Coach: Leanne Ulmer begins her eighth year as head coach in 2008 (195-62, .759 winning percentage, 7 years), and she was named CCIW Volleyball Coach of the Year in 2002, 2006 and 2007, as well as American Volleyball Coaches Association Midwest Region Coach of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. Her .7397 winning percentage over six season ranks 13th among active NCAA Division III coaches entering the 2007-08 season. Ulmer is ranked first all-time at Carthage in career wins (195) and first in winning percentage (.759). She passed coach Diane Mizerka (190 wins, 1975-82) with a victory over North Park University on Oct. 30 in the play-in match for the CCIW Women’s Volleyball Tournament. Prior to joining the Lady Reds, Ulmer had a successful career at Lincolnshire (Ill.) Stevenson High School, compiling a 227-75-2 record in eight seasons (1993-2000), along with a 99-13 mark in four seasons (1997-2000) as boy’s volleyball coach. She had eight-consecutive 20-win seasons in girls’ volleyball and four 30-win campaigns, with three conference championships, five regional titles and two sectional championships. Rob Koehler and Tiffany Thorsell serve as student assistant coaches.
The Conference: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in its 62nd season in 2007-08, first sponsored volleyball as a championship sport in 1986. Elmhurst College has won a league-leading nine championships (1986-88, 1998 and 2000-04). Carthage has won six times (1990, 1993, a co-championship with Elmhurst in 2004 and outright titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007). Millikin University has won three times (1994, 1995 and 1999). Illinois Wesleyan University has won twice (1991 and 1997), with Augustana College (Ill., 1996), North Central College (1992) and Wheaton College (Ill., 1989) winning one title each. Prior to 2005, the CCIW determined its volleyball championship on the basis of both regular-season and post-season victories. Beginning in 2005, the regular-season champion wins the conference title. With six first-place votes, the CCIW coaches picked Carthage to repeat in 2007, followed by Illinois Wesleyan second with two first-place votes, Wheaton College (Ill.) third, Elmhurst fourth, Millikin fifth, North Central sixth, Augustana (Ill.) seventh and North Park University eighth.
CCIW/NCAA Leaders: Carthage’s Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) led the CCIW in both attack percentage (.407, ranked ninth in NCAA Division III thru Nov. 4) and blocks (1.23 per game). Rachel Swoboda (Fr., De Pere, Wis./Wrightstown) was second in attack percentage (.356), and Ashley Kuehl (Sr., McFarland, Wis.) was sixth in kills (3.44 per game). Kelly Bauer was fourth in attack percentage (.348) and fifth in assists (7.29 per game), while Sarah Carlino (Jr., Kildeer, Ill./Lake Zurich) was second in service aces (0.52 per game). As a team, Carthage led the league in attack percentage (.289 and ranked fifth nationally thru Nov. 4), kills (14.63 per game) and blocks (2.75 per game, ranked 19th nationally thru Nov. 4), was ranked fourth in assists (12.19) and fourth in service aces (2.24 per game).
Nov. 8 NCAA Regional Quarterfinal Notes: In the Nov. 8 NCAA regional quarterfinals, Carthage (32-4) swept Carroll College (Wis., 20-14), 3-0, with the Lady Reds winning, 30-21, 30-11 and 30-17. Carthage broke open game one in the latter stages. With a 16-14 lead over Carroll (Wis.), the Lady Reds went on an 11-3 run to go up by 10 points, 27-17, en route to a nine-point decision, 30-21. Carthage opened up a 12-point lead in game two, 20-8, extended it to 16 points, 25-9 and cruised to a 19-point victory, 30-11. Game three started out close, with the Pioneers taking an 11-10 lead. With a 14-12 lead, Carthage went on a 6-1 run to go up by seven, 20-13. The Lady Reds extended their lead to 12 points, 27-15, and won by 13 points, 30-17. Carthage’s Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) had a match-high 12 kills and hit .588 with four blocks (2, solo, 2 assisted). Sarah Carlino (Jr., Kildeer, Ill/Lake Zurich) had 11 kills and hit .364, while Ashley Kuehl (Sr., McFarland, Wis.) had 11 kills and hit. 296.
Nov. 9 NCAA Regional Semifinal Notes: In the Nov. 9 NCAA regional semifinals, Carthage (33-4) swept Calvin College (30-5), 3-0, with the Lady Reds winning 30-26, 30-23 and 30-7. Carthage took an early 7-4 lead in game one, but Calvin caught the Lady Reds at 13-13 and pulled away to a six-point lead, 21-15. Carthage went on a 7-1 run to tie at 22-22. Calvin went up by two, 24-22. Carthage tied at 24-24 and then went back up, 25-24. Calvin tied at 25-25. Carthage went up, 26-25. There was another tie at 26, before Carthage ran off the final four points for a 30-26 win. The Lady Reds took game-two lead in the early going and slowly built a six-point lead, 20-14. The lead went to eight points, 24-16 and again at 26-18, as Carthage went on to win by seven, 30-23. The Lady Reds roared out to a 12-3 lead in game three. Carthage took off on a 9-3 run to make it a 16-point game at 21-5. After the Knights scored twice to make it 21-7, the Lady Reds scored nine unanswered points to win, 30-7. Carthage’s Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) had 10 kills and hit .474 with eight blocks (3 solo, 5 assisted), while Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central) had seven kills. Kristen Kalb topped Calvin with 10 kills.
Nov. 10 NCAA Regional Championship Notes: Game one was a very close contest, with the two teams separated by one or two points through the first portion. Carthage opened up a four-point lead, 19-15. Washington (Mo.) closed to within one, 22-21, before the Lady Reds went up by three, 26-23. The Bears got the next two points to make it 26-25, and the two teams traded points the rest of the way, en route to a 30-28 Carthage win. Washington (Mo.) broke a 5-5 tie in game two with an 8-1 run to go up by seven points, 13-6. The Bears extended their lead to eight, 18-10, before the Lady Reds used a 7-2 run to cut the lead to three, 20-17. Washington (Mo.) took a five-point lead, 25-20. Carthage closed to within one, 28-27, but Washington (Mo.) took the last two points for a 30-27 victory. The Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game three. Leading by two, 11-9, Washington (Mo.) used a 9-1 run to take a 10-point lead, 20-10. An 8-2 run put the Bears up by 16, 28-12, as they cruised to a 14-point victory, 30-16. Washington (Mo.) opened up a seven-point lead in game four, 12-5. The lead was still at seven, 18-11, when the Bears ran off three-straight points to take a 10-point lead, 21-11. Washington (Mo.) had a couple more 10-point margins, including 28-18. The Lady Reds cut the lead to eight, 28-20, before the Bears took the final two points for a 30-20 win and the match victory. Erin Albers had a match-high 16 kills for Washington (Mo.) and hit .520 with eight blocks (2 solo, 6 assisted). Nikki Morrison had 13 kills and hit .323. Haleigh Spencer had 13 kills, and Alli Alberts added 11 kills. Jori Simmons topped the Lady Reds with 13 kills, and she hit .355 with four blocks (1 solo, 3 assisted).
Carthage Women’s Volleyball Notes: Middle blocker Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) led the 2007 team with a .407 attack percentage, 2.37 kills per game and team-leading 1.23 blocks per game…setter/right side player Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central) hit .348 with 2.45 kills per game, 7.29 assists per game and 0.42 service aces per game…right side player Rachel Swoboda (Fr., De Pere, Wis./Wrightstown) had a .356 attack percentage with 2.71 kills per game.…outside hitter Ashley Kuehl (Sr., McFarland, Wis.) had a team-leading 3.44 kills-per-game mark.
Quoting Coach Leanne Ulmer on Winning the CCIW Tournament: “Winning this tournament and the conference championship never gets old. Every year is different. The girls played great this weekend, and I’m so proud of them. Friday night’s semifinal match against Illinois Wesleyan turned into a scary affair. Illinois Wesleyan is a very good team, and that really turned into a dogfight. That was probably good for us, in the long run, because nothing here on in is going to come easy. We got off to a little bit of a slow start against Augustana (Ill.) in the championship match on Saturday, but we cleaned up some of our errors and managed to stay ahead of them. We seemed to build momentum every game, and I think our blocking took Augustana out of their game. Now, we’re excited to be playing host to the NCAA regional, and we’re going to have to play our best volleyball this week. We’re excited to be here, excited to be playing at home, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
The Record Book: Kelly Bauer (Sr., Brookfield, Wis./Central) finished her Carthage career ranked second on the all-time list for assists (3,688), first in assists per game (7.44), third in kills (1,170), third in service aces (233) and 14th in digs (910)…Jori Simmons (Sr., Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) is Carthage’s career leader in total blocks (663), while ranked second in block assists (489), fifth in block solos (174), seventh in kills (1,106) and eighth in service aces (149). Simmons also set a Carthage career record by playing in 143-straight matches over four years. She did not miss a match…Ashley Kuehl (Sr., McFarland, Wis.) is fourth in career kills (1,158)…by going 7-0 this year in conference matches, Carthage extended its CCIW record to 30-consecutive wins going back to Oct. 11, 2003.
Quoting Coach Leanne Ulmer on Playing Host to the NCAA Regional: “This is what I envisioned when I took over in 2001. Things were kind of bleak then, and talking about playing in an NCAA championship was like blowing smoke. I’m thrilled that we’re the number-one seed, but whoever we play, you know you’re going to have beat some good teams to advance. We only worry about what we control, and we controlled that by earning the home court and the top seed.” (courtesy of the Kenosha News)
Quoting Coach Leanne Ulmer on the Nov. 8 NCAA Regional Quarterfinal Win over Carroll (Wis.): “The girls played great. What a great opportunity for us to make a little history here and get some momentum. Offensively, we just keep coming at you, and I think we put Carroll (Wis.) on their heels. After that, we picked up the defense—it was a complete match. Calvin is going to be a very formidable opponent in the semifinals. We’re going to have to play well. It should be close, and it should be an exciting match.” (courtesy of the Kenosha News)
Quoting Coach Leanne Ulmer on the Nov. 9 NCAA Regional Semifinal Win over Calvin: “The girls are playing well, and they have a lot of confidence. We’ve come this far, and they just don’t seem to have any fear of playing anyone. We’re at home and love playing here. We’re playing some great teams, we’re doing the job. It should be an awesome match against Washington (Mo.).” (courtesy of the Kenosha News)
Quoting Coach Leanne Ulmer on the Nov. 10 NCAA Regional-Championship Loss to Washington (Mo.): “Washington (Mo.) is a very good team, and it’s not easy to come back on them. We got beat by a better team. We played hard, and we played well, but we just couldn’t get the one tough serve or that one stop. Game two was their big turning point—the momentum really turned after that. This team has been awesome. While I know they’re disappointed, they changed Carthage volleyball history. It all started with them, and we’re really going to miss this group of seniors.”