The historical ride for the Aurora University women's volleyball team continues in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship at the University of Chicago as the Spartans defeated the host and top-seeded Maroons 3-2 (18-25, 25-17, 23-25, 30-28, 15-10) in a thrilling match and advance to the regional final on Sunday, November 11.

THE BASICS:
FINAL SCORE: #5 Aurora University 3, #1 University of Chicago 2 (18-25, 25-17, 23-25, 30-28, 15-10)
LOCATION: Ratner Athletic Center - Chicago, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 25-8 overall; University of Chicago 29-5 overall
BOX SCORE: View Here
ATTENDANCE 147
GAME TIME: 2:13

BEYOND THE BOX - 
- The Spartans advances to the Regional Final of the 2018 NCAA Division III Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED -
- The Spartans fell behind early in the opening set and battled back with within two at 13-11.
- AU would fall in the first set 25-18.
- The second set saw AU grab an early lead and run away with the set to tie the match. The Spartans were 25-17 victors.
- The third set started to set the tone for the rest of the match as the Spartans and Maroons went back and forth like a heavy weight fight.
- The set had five lead changes and the score was tied 16 times before Chicago won five of the six final points to win 25-23.
- The fourth set played out just like the third with the two teams going right after each other. AU faced match point four times and served with set point twice before Julia Wood served up an ace to win 30-28 and send the match to a winner take all fifth set.
- In the fifth set the Spartans took over, never trailing and seeing the score tied once at 3-3.
- A big run was started with a Katie Vondra kill, two blocks by Lindsey Simpson and Imani Freeman and an ace from Wood.
- AU built an 8-4 lead in that run and went on to win 15-10.
- The Spartans were victorious and advance to the Sweet 16 and Regional Championship game with the victory.

SPARTAN LEADERS –                                             
KILLS: Katie Vondra (18), Imani Freeman (13) and Lindsey Simpson (11)
ASSISTS: Emily Lines (49)
ACES: Lindsey Simpson (5)
DIGS: Julia Wood (32), Katie Vondra (27), Makayla Fincher (25), Emily Lines and Nikki Lofshult (13) 
BLOCKS: Samantha Weising (6) and Imani Freeman (5)
 
UP NEXT:
Next action for the Spartan women's volleyball team comes on Sunday, November 11 in the Regional Finals of the NCAA Division III Championships. AU will take on #3 Illinois Wesleyan University at 1:00 p.m. at the University of Chicago.