MEQUON, Wis. - If there's anything the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference has gotten accustomed to in recent years, it's the presence of the Edgewood College volleyball team in the conference's championship match. The No. 3 seed Eagles overcame a slow start against No. 2 Concordia University Wisconsin Thursday evening in the NACC Tournament semifinals to punch their ticket to the conference's championship match for the fourth-straight season. The Eagles won by scores of 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20 despite hitting just .063 on the night.

The Eagles, playing in their sixth-consecutive semifinals match, struggled early against the Falcons much like they did when the two teams met in the regular season on Sept. 16. The Eagles were down 20-9 at one point but did manage to string together some points to bring it to 25-16. The Eagles hit an even .000 in the opening set compared to a .238 mark from the Falcons. The Eagles appeared well on their way to another loss to the Falcons, as the Eagles hit -.114 compared to the Falcons' .188 in the first set of the match on Sept. 16.

The Eagles would improve slightly in the second set by hitting .059 and three Eagles would record three kills in the set in Savannah Koester, Jordan Winkler and Renee Meister. The Eagles recorded the first two points in the match but suddenly found themselves down 9-3. After battling back to make it 14-9, the Eagles would go on another run by recording nine of the next 11 points to go up 18-16. The Eagles would close things out by notching kills in five of their last six points in the set. The Eagles also recorded four total blocks in the set.

Koester and Winkler would each rack up four kills in set three and the Eagles would be strong defensively again by notching four blocks in the match. The Eagles and Falcons traded points early and often, as no team gained more than a two-point lead until Edgewood College went up 13-10 on a Macalah Finstad service ace. The Eagles would go on a 9-3 run following that point to go up 22-13, but the Falcons wouldn't quit. The Eagles would commit four attack errors in the next six Falcons' points to allow the opposition to pull within 24-19, but Koester put an end to it with a monster kill on an assist from Rachel Tesch to go up 2-1.

The Falcons would go up 2-1 in the fourth set, but that would be the last time they would be in the lead in the entire match. The Eagles finally put together some consistency on offense and hit .128, led by Koester's five kills and Winkler's four. The Falcons threatened late, though, as they scored four-straight points to pull within four at 21-17, but Koester would put a damper on the comeback attempt by recording three kills in the final four Edgewood College points.

Koester led the team with 13 kills and a .162 attack percentage, while Winkler was close behind (12, .095). Renee Meister and Elizabeth Evans each had seven kills, while Meister also had seven blocks on the night. Tesch paced the Eagles on the back end of the defense and finished with 37 digs. Kaily Moegenburg was the lone Falcon to have double-digit kills and finished with 11 and an attack percentage of .061. Hannah Griffiths, who had 17 kills against the Eagles earlier this season, was held to seven kills and hit only .091. 

The Eagles' .063 attack percentage is the lowest mark that the Eagles have recorded and still won since at least 2004, as the Eagles hit .068 against Gordon College on Sept. 4, 2004. No. 1 seed Dominican University barely edged out No. 4 seed Aurora University in five sets Thursday evening, setting up a championship match in River Forest, Ill., on Saturday. The Eagles and Stars will battle for the NACC Tournament Championship at 6 pm Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Igini Sports Forum.