Home  Volleyball Volleyball - Magical Season Continues as Bears Advance to Elite 8
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Volleyball - Magical Season Continues as Bears Advance to Elite 8 |
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 Corinne McCormack, head coach Patty Giannattasio, Christine Rostowfske and the Bears are heading to the Elite 8.
The Bears (26-2) become the first team from the Coast Guard Academy to advance to the national quarterfinals in any team sport.
Coast Guard, which extended its school-record winning streak to 22 straight matches, advances to the national quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia on Thursday, Nov. 16th. The Bears will take on the # 1 team in the nation Juniata at 8:30 p.m in the fourth and final quarterfinal of the night. Juniata is 38-1 this season and they are the only team to appear in all 26 NCAA Division III Tournaments. 2006 Division III Volleyball Championship Information.
Sophomore Nicole Gurr led Coast Guard with 27 kills and 13 digs, junior co-captain Corinne McCormack had 18 kills while junior Kimberly Jung had 16 kills while leading the team with 28 digs and six aces.
Coast Guard had to rally to win the opening game as they battled back from a 21-14 deficit using a 10-1 spurt to take a 24-22 lead. The match was tied at 26-26 before Coast Guard scored two straight for a 28-26 lead and the Bears held on for the 30-28 win.
Just as they did in game one, the Bears had to fight back from a deficit. MIT led 18-13 before Coast Guard ripped off 11 of the next 13 points taking a 24-20 lead enroute to a 30-24 win.
MIT was not about to send Coast Guard to Virginia without a fight and it was the Engineers that needed to rally in game three as Coast Guard led 20-13 before the Engineers scored eight of the next 10 points pulling to within 22-21. MIT finally pulled even at 26-26. Coast Guard had a pair of championship points, at 29-28 and 30-29, but MIT scored the final three points for the 32-30 win.
The Engineers easily won game four as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead increased it to 20-6 and cruised to a 30-17 win.
So, for Coast Guard which squandered a pair of championship points, the greatest season in the history of the volleyball program would come down to a fifth game, just as it did when Coast Guard beat MIT 3-2 during the regular season.
In that fifth and decisive game the teams alternated the first 12 points and the game was tied 6-6. Coast Guard ran off five straight points to take an 11-6 lead before MIT answered with four straight to pull to within 11-10. Coast Guard responded with three straight for a 14-10 lead serve for championship point. MIT would not go quietly as they scored back-to-back points to cut the lead to 14-12. The match ended as only it should have with the lone senior on the team, setter and co-captain Christine Rostowfske recording a kill. Rostowfske, the NEWMAC Player of the Year, led the Bears with 59 assists.
Coast Guard appearing in its fourth NCAA Tournament, had been eliminated in the second round in each of its three previous NCAA tournament appearances in 1995, 1996 and 1997.
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