Calvin University Knights
Calvin enters the 2022 NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament ranked fourth in the latest AVCA poll with a 25-3 record and on a 17-match win streak. The Knights went a perfect 8-0 in the MIAA to win their 14th regular season conference championship under head coach Dr. Amber Warners, and then swept both Adrian and Albion in the MIAA Tournament to claim the 15th conference tournament title in Warners’ 21 seasons.
The Knights entered the season ranked third in the AVCA Preseason Poll and return five seniors from last season’s NCAA Tournament runner-up team. Heidi Westra was named AVCA National Player of the Year in 2021 and backed up that award by setting career highs in kills (4.56) and digs (3.12) per set. She was named MIAA Most Valuable Player for the second time, and All-MIAA First Team for the third time this season.
Tori Roskamp, Aubrey Wrubel and Gabriella Kellogg were also named All-MIAA First Team, while first-year setter Alyssa DeVries was named All-MIAA Second Team and enters the tournament leading the nation with an average of 11.1 assists per set. Roskamp is among the nation’s top hitters with a .380 attack efficiency on the season, while Wrubel ranks among the program’s all-time leaders with 1,475 career digs.
On top of their dominant conference campaign, the Knights finished the season with an 8-3 record against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
WashU Bears
The Bears have had a great season and recorded a 29-5 record on the year, earning a runner-up finish at the UAA Championships. WashU finished the 2022 regular season undefeated at home with a 17-0 record and also holds a 9-4 record in neutral site matches. The Bears will have a rematch with Millikin University, who they defeated in a contested 3-0 match at the WashU Invite earlier this season in St. Louis.
In addition, the Bears also earned three wins over nationally-ranked opponents and boasted a strong record in regional play, including a five-set thrilling victory over No. 6 NYU at home.
Fifth-year outside hitter Michaela Bach has been an integral piece to the Bears’ success this season. Bach registered 1,000 career kills in October, becoming just one of 30 players ever in program history to achieve this accomplishment. The St. Louis native leads the Bears in total kills with 338.
Other notable individual records that have been achieved this season include senior Taryn Gurbach, who posted 1,000 career digs last Friday. Gurbach also joins elite company, becoming just one of 23 players in WashU history to achieve this feat.
Statistically, the Bears lead the UAA and rank third nationally in total team kills (1636) and 11
th in kills per set (13.41). Furthermore, WashU is also ranked eighth in team hitting percentage (.257) Individually, First-year setter Sam Buckley ranks third nationally in total assists (1183) and is fourth in assists per set (10.56).
WIttenberg University Tigers
The nationally ranked No. 11 Wittenberg Women's Volleyball team earned their 27th bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships over the weekend, clinching their 26th North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 3-0 sweep of the Big Red from Denison University [25-14, 25-12, 25-21], in the championship match.
The Tigers wrapped up the 2022 campaign with a 23-4 overall record, including a 7-0 conference record. Wittenberg put together win-streaks of four, five and 11 matches throughout the season. The Tigers took 15 of their 23 wins by way of 3-0 sweeps.
Wittenberg has put together one of the most potent attacks across division III. The Tigers post the fourth best hitting percentage amongst NCAA DIII programs, with .260. Averaging nearly 14 kills per set (13.59), Wittenberg ranks among the top 10 in DIII at No. 8 for kills/set.
Wittenberg is led by graduate-senior Katie Hiestand coming off back-to-back All-NCAC Tournament MVP performances. A three-time first-team All-NCAC honoree, Hiestand has amassed 322 kills and 309 digs this season. Along the way, Hiestand has eclipsed the 1,000 career-kill and 1,000 career-dig mark so far this season. Not only has Hiestand established herself as one of the top hitters in the NCAC, she cracks the top 100 for kills/set at 3.54.
Sophomore Tyler Linkhart earned First Team All-NCAC honors for the second consecutive season while also being named to the NCAC All-Tournament team. Linkhart has established herself as one of the most dominant hitters in the DIII, posting a .331 hitting percentage, ranking her amongst the top 50 in DIII.
Sophomore Kendall Robertson cracks the top 40 in the nation for hitting-percentage, hitting .351 while earning All-NCAC Second Team honors for the first time in her career as a Tiger.
Junior Mack Ricketts comes in at No. 7 in NCAA DIII for assists per set with 10.47. After leading the conference in multiple categories, including assists per set, total assists, and service aces, Rickets collected First Team All-NCAC honors for the first time as a Tiger.
Sophomore Ava Hampton holds down the libero position for Wittenberg, averaging 4.29 digs/set. Hampton has tallied 20+ digs six times, reaching her season-high of 25 twice.
Wittenberg will travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. for their fourth consecutive NCAA regional appearance, where the Tigers will take on Hope College in round one. This will be their second match-up with the Flying Dutch this season, having already defeated Hope at the MIAA/NCAC Challenge, 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18), back on September 10. Wittenberg has made a home away from home at the Grand Rapids Regional, as the Tigers get set to make their 11th trip to Calvin University in NCAA postseason action. Wittenberg made their first appearance at the Grand Rapids regional in 2006 and has returned back for opening round action on what is to become the 8th separate occasion. The Tigers have captured two NCAA National Runner-Up finishes back in 2015 and 2017, and began their historic 2011 National Championship run from the Grand Rapids Regional.
University of Wis.-Oshkosh Titans
The UW-Oshkosh Titans women’s volleyball team went 30-5 (6-1 WIAC) in the 2022 season, ending the regular season on a 19-game win streak.
WIAC Tournament
The Titans were the No. 2 seed in the WIAC tournament, earning a first-round bye. They faced UW-Stevens Point in the semi-finals, falling in five sets.
Broken Records and Milestones
Head coach Jon Ellmann entered his fifth season leading the Titans with a 77-52, won his 100
th career game this season. He currently sits at 107-57. With his 100
th win, he became the third coach in program history to surpass 100 wins.
Carissa Sundholm passed 1,000 career kills this season, becoming the 14
th player in program history to pass the milestone. She currently sits at 1,018 kills. She also broke the record for most total attacks in a season. Aleisha Bagin had held the record since 2010 with 1,324 total attacks until Sundholm broke it this season with 1,355 attacks.
Conference Honors
Head coach Jon Ellmann won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award.
Abby Fregien took home WIAC Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defensive team and All-WIAC honorable mention honors.
Riley Kindt and Carissa Sundholm each earned All-WIAC First Team honors for the second season in a row.
Kate Nottoli was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.
Otterbein University Cardinals
Otterbein is back in the NCAA’s for a third-straight time after sweeping the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Cardinals have spent the entire year ranked in the AVCA national poll and are 143-34 under head coach Monica Wright the last six seasons.
The Cardinals are riding a nine-match winning streak into the “Big Dance” behind a variety of contributors, highlighted by senior right side Amber Greeley being named the AVCA Division III National Player of the Week on Tuesday. She had a combined hitting line of 37-3-69 (.493) over the two postseason matches, including a whopping .727 percentage in the OAC Final.
Senior setter Carlie Craycraft, a returning second team All-American, holds more than 4,200 career assists as a four-year fixture running the offense. Junior outside Morgan Hartman recently made it three Cardinals on the All-OAC first team after posting 3.7 kills per set this fall. She has 12 double-doubles this year playing around the rotation.
Plenty of other Cardinals hold important roles, including emerging sophomore Amanda Troyer in the back row. Otterbein is 9-0 since she took over the libero duties back in mid-October, averaging 5.5 digs per set during the span.
Wright, now in her 16th year leading Otterbein, is a former All-American outside hitter for Wittenberg and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Honor this time last year.
Otterbein made the Regional Final last year in Grand Rapids before dropping a four-set match with host Calvin, who went on to finish as the national runner-up.
Hope College Flying Dutch
Led by head coach Becky Schmidt, the Flying Dutch received an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament and are making their 18th postseason appearance all-time and 13th in the past 14 seasons. Hope finished the regular season with a 21-7 overall record.
Sophomore outside hitter Annie Lockett and freshman setter Lauren Lee both earned All-MIAA First Team honors; Lee also was selected as the MIAA Freshman Player of the Year. A pair of middle blockers made the All-MIAA Second Team: senior Charlotte Brecht and sophomore Alison DeWeerd. Lee led the MIAA in assists per set in regular-season league matches at 11.22 in while also averaging 0.67 assists per game. Lee directed a Hope attack that ranked first in the MIAA in kills per set in league matches at 14.04 and third in hitting percentage at .246. Lockett, a transfer from Eastern Michigan University, ranked third in the MIAA in kills per set in league matches at 3.96 and 10th in hitting percentage at .277. Lockett also topped the MIAA in service aces per set in league matches at 0.93.
The Flying Dutch placed second in the MIAA regular-season standings and reached the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament. Hope has advanced to the regional final in their past two appearances, losing to eventual national champion Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2021 and Calvin in 2019. Hope won the national championship in 2014, defeating Wittenberg and Calvin in the regional semifinal and national semifinals, respectively.
Millikin University Big Blue
Big Blue women's volleyball faced a tough non-conference schedule in their 23-10 overall season. They opened their season at top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, then faced ranked UW-Stevens Points, UW-Whitewater, and UW-Oshkosh squads, defeating Whitewater in four and Oshkosh in five sets.
Head coach Debbie Kiick, in her 23rd season at the helm of the program, earned her 500th career victory against Carroll University to move to 2-0 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play. But, early on in CCIW play, the BIg Blue faltered against Augustana and North Park to fall to 2-2. Facing five more ranked opponents in non-conference play and falling to WashU, Calvin, and Hope, Millikin defeated their final two ranked opponents of the season, UChicago and Wittenberg, in four sets apiece.
In a tightly contested conference race, Millikin fell to the third seed and after losing to Illinois Wesleyan in five sets. Having defeated top-seeded Carthage in the regular season but falling to North Park, their 5-3 record forced their second matchup with IWU in five days. A redemption win over the Titans led to a rematch with the Vikings of North Park University, the eventual CCIW Tournament champions, where they lost in three.
Millikin received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the seventh-seeded team in the region, where they will get a second chance to compete against WashU in the first round.
Seniors Tori Stuart and Jessi Kreder, along with sophomore Kailee Itzenhuiser earned All-Conference First Team honors, while Sophia Howell received Second Team recognition.
Statistical leaders this season include:
Kills - Kailee Itzenhuiser (380), Tori Stuart (313)
Assists - Sandy Brindl (440), Olivia Grbavac (422)
Service Aces - Itzenhuiser (59), Kaitlyn Skowronski (37)
Digs - Sophia Howell (508), Itzenhuiser (418)
Reception % - Itzenhuiser (.956, 31 errors in 700 attempts)
Blocks - Jessi Kreder (106.0)
Aurora University Spartans
- Fifth appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship field for the program.
- 2021 regional, lost 3-1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Wartburg
- 2019 regional, lost 3-0 to Ohio Northern at Calvin
- 2018 won the University of Chicago Regional
- First appearance was in 2017
- Lost 3-1 to Gustavus Adolphus College
- All-Time in the NCAA Tournament, Aurora has a 3-4 record.
- 2018 was the first NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Regional Championship for the AU women’s volleyball program.
- Lost to Calvin College in the NCAA quarterfinal round.
- 22-9 overall record and 12-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
- Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) regular season and tournament champions
- AU is 2-4 against 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament qualifiers
- Wins against
- Millikin University (3-0) and University of Chicago (3-1)
- Losses against
- Wesleyan University (3-0), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (3-1),Washington University, St. Louis (3-0) and University of Wisconsin-Stevens-Point (3-0)
INDIVIDUAL HONORS AND AWARDS
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- Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Award Winners
- Top NACC Awards
- Senior Outside Hitter Sydnei Avery
- All-Conference
- First-Team
- Sydnei Avery
- Addy Gruse
- Kaitlyn Beebe
- Head Coach James Seitelman is 200-104 in 10 seasons at AU
- 233-159 overall in his career (13 years)
