EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball team competed in the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Regional Championship finals on Saturday. The No. 1 seed Blugolds took on Hope College (Mich.) Flying Dutch for a chance to advance to the NCAA Elite 8 in St. Louis, MO. Despite dropping the first set 25-18, UW-Eau Claire bounced back in the following three sets to take the 3-1 win and advance in the tournament.
After the initial set defeat, the Blugold defense came alive to compliment the high-power offense. In set two, UWEC found themselves down early, but a couple three-point rallies strung together tied the set at 12-12. As both teams battled back and forth through 15 tie scores and eight different lead changes, Eau Claire would be the side to pull away after back-to-back kills from Makenzie Bachmann (Sr. – Chaska, MN) sealed the set 25-22 for the home team.
The third set featured another tough battle between the top seeded teams with both sides stringing together three-point runs early to open the set with a 4-4 tie. It was Bachmann and Arianna Barrett (Sr. – Lakeville, MN/North) who then extended a lead to 8-4 to put UWEC in the driver's seat. That lead never wavered as Barret and Bachmann totaled nine kills together in the 25-21 set win.
In the fourth and final set, it was all Eau Claire all the time as UWEC came out to a commanding 6-0 lead. Barrett added seven kills to finish the evening at a game high 19. The dominance would continue as the Blugolds held a lead as high as 13 points as they captured the regional championship honors with a set victory, 25-12.
Arianna Barrett was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player with Makenzie Bachmann and Kendra Baierl both being named to the All-Tournament Team.
Bachmann and Kendra Baierl (Sr. – Marshfield, WI/Columbus Catholic) followed Barrett's offense with 13 kills each. Baierl added three block assists to keep the Flying Dutch attack at bay.
The Blugolds will travel to Washington University in St. Louis, MO for the NCAA Elite 8 later this week. Their quarterfinal matchup will be against Tufts University (Mass.) on Thursday, November 18th at 3 PM.
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