MADISON, Wis. – Very few athletes can say they have won three conference titles at the collegiate level. Even fewer can say they won their third and final regular season league championship on Senior Night. But that's what the trio of Jordan Winkler, Rachel Tesch and Kaitlyn Rabel accomplished Friday at the Edgedome. Winkler and Rabel—the two senior outside hitters—combined for 13 kills while Tesch had a game-high 16 digs as the Eagles swept Rockford in front of a particularly lively crowd.
The win was Edgewood College's 10th-straight and it also secured a No. 1 seed and home-court advantage for the upcoming NACC Volleyball Tournament. The Eagles will play on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 pm in the Edgedome in the NACC semifinals and would have home court for the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 7 with a win in the semifinals.
The Eagles clinched their third NACC Championship in four seasons by hitting a season-high .352 against the Regents. They had 14 kills to just three errors (.426) in the first set and had 14 kills and just one error in the third (.419) to secure the victory.
The Eagles scored at least four-straight points on three occasions in the first set, with the final one pushing their lead to 23-14. Savannah Koester had a kill and two service aces in the final run while Emily Chaussee had five kills overall in the set to take the first frame 25-16.
Freshman Taylor Stanek (4), Koester (3) and Winkler (3) led the Eagles in kills in the second set and the Eagles held strong defensively by holding the Regents to just four kills. The Eagles also served up five aces in the set and had two blocks.
Stanek posted five more kills in set three while Winkler added four and Rabel chipped in with three. For the second-straight set Tesch totaled six digs as the Eagles closed things out.
Winkler, who was also celebrating her 22nd birthday, has now hit above .289 in the last six matches after posting a mark of .421 on Friday with eight kills and no errors in 19 attacks. Rabel's five kills and one error in 11 attacks was good for a .364 hitting percentage. Tesch's 16 digs were by far the most on the night, as Rockford's Alex Storey had the second-highest total with nine.
Stanek's nine kills now stands as a career high, while Koester finished third on the team in kills with six in just eight attacks for a hitting percentage of .750. Mackenzie Hannan also chipped in 12 assists for her first double-digit total in that category at the collegiate level.
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24 with the final NACC match of the season. They will take on Concordia Chicago at noon at the Edgedome. The Eagles can win the conference outright with either a win or a Dominican loss. The Eagles then play Augustana College (Ill.) at 2:30 pm for a non-conference tilt.
