The Aurora University women's volleyball team rallied to force five sets in the 2023 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday afternoon at Edgewood College. AU dropped the first two sets before winning the third and fourth sets to force the winner take all fifth set. The Spartans had match point but would lose the set 16-14 and drop the match in heartbreaking fashion 3-2. AU seniors
Dani Lauer and
Celeste Cozzoni were named to the 2023 NACC All-Tournament Team.
MATCH SCORE: Edgewood College 3, Aurora University 2 (16-25, 12-25, 25-17, 25-22, 14-16)
LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin
RECORD: Aurora University 21-11 overall and 12-1 in the NACC
- AU fell behind early in the first set as the host Eagles led 11-2.
- The Spartans rallied and shortly after forcing Edgewood to call timeout, got the deficit within three at 17-14.
- But the Spartans would drop the set 25-16.
- AU would fall in the second set 25-12 and trail the match 2-0.
- Showing the heart of a champion, the Spartans responded in the third set, winning 25-17.
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Hannah Joseph had 13 assists in the third with four kills from
Lulu Torres and three each from
Dani Lauer,
Celeste Cozzoni and
Kate Poellmann.
- The fourth set was back and forth with multiple lead changes and tie scores.
- After a kill from Poellmann tied the score 19-19, the Spartans ran off six of the final nine points to win 25-22 and force the winner take all fifth set.
- The top two teams in the NACC showed why with an exciting and heartbreaking fifth and final set.
- The lead changed hands four times with the score tied 10 others in the fifth.
- Trailing 11-8 and coming out of a timeout, the Spartans took advantage of Edgewood errors to take a 14-13 lead and Edgewood used their last timeout at match point.
- Edgewood would score the final three points of the match though to win the set 16-14 and the match 3-2.
KILLS: Lulu Torres (13) and
Kate Poellmann (12)
ASSISTS: Hannah Joseph (38)
DIGS: Hannah Evenson (21),
Dani Lauer (14) and
Lulu Torres (12)
ACES: Kristen Erickson (5) and
Katelyn Ruse (4)
BLOCKS: Riley Moreno and
Dani Lauer (6) and
Celeste Cozzoni (5)
The AU women's volleyball team concludes the 2023 season with a 21-11 overall record and finished as Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular season champions with a 12-1 NACC record.
