The Aurora University women's volleyball team looked down and out in the 2018 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday, November 3 against #2 Concordia University Wisconsin. The Spartans rallied back from an 0-2 set deficit and trailed in the third set when a comeback was sealed with a fifth set victory. The win sends the Spartans back to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship field for the second time in as many years.

THE BASICS:
FINAL SCORE: #1 Aurora University 3, #2 Concordia University Wisconsin 2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-8)
LOCATION: Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium - Aurora, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 23-8 overall; Concordia University Wisconsin 19-10 overall

BEYOND THE BOX - 
- AU advances to the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships.
- Senior Emily Lines is the all-time assists leader in AU history.
- Senior Katie Vondra is the all-time kills leader in AU history.
- The Spartans receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first-time.

HOW IT HAPPENED -
- The Spartans led the first set 8-5 but the visiting Falcons rallied to take a 13-9 lead before going on to defeat AU 25-22.
- The second set was not kind to AU either as the Spartans never led and trailed throughout the match, falling 25-18.
- Down 2-0 in the match heading to the third set, the Spartans led early on but saw CUW take a lead at 8-5 with a Spartan timeout.
- CUW went on to lead 10-5 when the Spartan rally began.
- With Lindsey Simpson and Nikki Lofshult at the service line, AU grabbed the lead at 14-13 and CUW used their final timeout of the set.
- The set went back and forth when back-to-back kills from Katie Vondra have the Spartans a 19-17 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
- The Spartans went on to win 25-19.
- In the fourth set, after grabbing a 5-4 lead, the Spartans led the remainder of the set. The set would be tied 21-21 but the Spartans won the set 25-21 and forced the all or nothing fifth set.
- With a frenzied crowd behind them, the Spartans never trailed in the fifth set and would win 15-8/
- The 3-2 match win is the first NACC Tournament Championship for the AU women's volleyball program.

SPARTAN LEADERS –                                             
KILLS: Katie Vondra (18), Imani Freeman (14) and Karli Chambers (13)
ASSISTS: Emily Lines (51)
ACES: Katie Vondra (2)
DIGS: Katie Vondra and Emily Lines (22), Julia Wood (19) and Makayla Fincher (16),
BLOCKS: Lindsey Simpson (9) and Imani Freeman (6)
 
UP NEXT:
Next action for the Spartan women's volleyball team comes in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship. AU will find out the location, time and opponent they will play on Monday, November 5 at 11:30 a.m. when the NCAA announces the tournament field on NCAA.com