MADISON, Wis. – In Tuesday night's Northern Athletics Conference Tournament quarterfinal, Edgewood College faced one of the NAC's best blocking teams in Concordia University Wisconsin. The Eagles showed they could put up a wall at the net as well as anyone, blocking eight attacks and sweeping a 25-18, 25-15, 25-18 victory away from the Falcons. Top-seeded Edgewood College advances to a semifinal match on Thursday night at home against fourth-seeded Maranatha Baptist Bible College.

Edgewood College (25-8) opened a 14-9 lead in the first set, before the Falcons rallied to tie the score at 14-14. The Eagles opened up a 19-17 lead when head coach Paul Schlomer called on senior Laura Sweeney to serve. Sweeney opened with an ace and proceeded to serve five straight points ended by a kill and a solo block from Jessica Martin. Two points later, the Eagles closed the set with a kill from Kaylin Wayne.

The Eagles pulled out the blocks to run away with set two. Leading 16-14, Edgewood College closed the set on a 9-1 run. In that run, Sarah Schuchhardt teamed with Mallory Palmer once and then with Lindsey Swansby for assisted blocks. Palmer added two kills and Schuchhardt one to blow open the second set for a 25-15 victory.

Edgewood College began the third set with a 9-3 run, behind an ace and four service points from Macalah Finstad. A kill from Martin put the Eagles ahead 21-12 before Concordia Wisconsin (8-24) mounted their final rally of the season. The Falcons scored six of seven points to trim the lead to 23-18, but an unassisted kill from Swansby and a service ace by Martin ended the match and eliminated the Falcons from the NAC Tournament.

Palmer led all players with 13 kills and a .303 attack percentage. Katie Wedvick scored seven kills, while Martin added six. Schuchhardt was responsible for five of the Eagles eight total blocks, including a pair of solo blocks. Rachel Thomsen and Swansby shared team-high honors with nine digs each. Swansby had 29 assists, which brings her career total to 3,440 assists. Swansby needs 26 assists to break the Edgewood College all-time record of 3,465 assists, held by Lisa Wendt who played from 1990-93.

Edgewood College advances to a semifinal match against the only Northern Athletics Conference team to have beaten the Eagles this year, Maranatha Baptist (19-3). The Eagles and Crusaders will get underway on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Todd Wehr Edgedome. Live video and live statistics will be available on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.