MADISON, Wis. – Edgewood College is now just a win on Senior Night on Friday away from clinching at least a share of the NACC regular season title after taking down Concordia Wisconsin in four sets on Tuesday. The Falcons entered the game tied for second in the NACC at 7-1 but the Eagles cruised to a 25-21, 25-23, 19-25, 25-14 win for their ninth-straight victory.
Dominican beat Aurora in straight sets on the night and moved into sole possession of second place in the NACC at 8-1. If the Eagles beat Rockford (7-17, 1-8 NACC) at home on Friday night they clinch a share of the NACC title. The Eagles can win outright if Dominican loses Friday night or if the Eagles win Friday and beat Concordia Chicago on Saturday. They can also win outright by going 1-1 to close the NACC regular season combined with Dominican losing one of its final two regular season matchups.
Senior defensive specialist Rachel Tesch had 26 digs—her third-highest total of the season—and fellow senior Jordan Winkler led the offense with 13 kills and just two errors (.289 attack percentage) to power the Eagles. The Eagles were also stellar on defense by posting nine team blocks, five of which came in the first set.
The Eagles started hot with an 11-4 lead in the first set and would later make it 19-10 after a 4-0 run. CUW wouldn't go down quietly, though, as the Falcons brought it to within three at 23-20 before a Winkler kill and a block from Elizabeth Evans and Jenna Dammen to close things out.
The largest run in the second set was a five-point stretch for the Eagles to go up 12-9. No team would lead by more than two points until Edgewood College took a 19-16 lead on back-to-back kills from Emily Chaussee and Winkler. Moments later with the score knotted at 23, Savannah Koester recorded a kill to go up one and CUW would end it by committing an attack error.
The Eagles never led in set three but remained within striking distance throughout. They couldn't quite get over the hump, falling 25-19 with a .114 attack percentage in the set.
The doubts of Edgewood College failing to win in set four was erased quickly after the Eagles jumped to an 8-2 lead after three-straight kills. The Eagles then pushed it to 17-8 before eventually closing things out.
Koester also reached double digits in kills with 10 while Alex Zapuchlak (20) and Haley Schwenn (17) combined for 37 of the team's 41 assists.
The Eagles' matchup on Friday night against the Regents is scheduled for a 7 pm start. Edgewood College will be honoring three seniors—Winkler, Tesch and Kaitlyn Rabel—prior to the start of the match.
