Spartans finish season with pair of victories

Volleyball places fifth in UAA Championship Tournament

The+CWRU+volleyball+squad+huddles+prior+to+the+start+of+a+new+set.+The+team+%0A%0Afinished+their+season+over+the+weekend+with+a+fifth+place+finish+in+the+UAA.

Ishaan Taylor/Observer

The CWRU volleyball squad huddles prior to the start of a new set. The team finished their season over the weekend with a fifth place finish in the UAA.

JP. O’Hagan, Sports Editor

The Spartans finished off their season with a pair of victories to claim the fifth place spot in the University Athletic Association Championship Tournament on Friday.

The Spartans were seeded fourth in the tournament held in Pittsburgh, but fell to the fifth-seeded University of Chicago in four rounds. However the Spartans rebounded to sweep Brandeis University and work their way back into the fifth place match in the bracket. In the fifth place match, the Spartans bested the University of Rochester squad to finish the season with a win.

The opening match of the tournament saw the Spartans fall to the University of Chicago Maroons in four sets. Case was able to steal away the second set but lost the first, third and the fourth and final round by scores of 25-23, 25-17, 25-21. UAA All-Conference honorees Carolyn Bogart led the squad in kills for the match with 12 and Kayla Pfaff with 7 blocks in the effort.

In the second match of the day the Spartans went up against Brandies and were able to sweep the match in three sets, winning by scores of 25-9, 25-12, and 25-12. This secured the Spartans a spot in the second day of competition, in the fifth place game. In this second matchup, the Spartans were led by Haley Kauffman with 8 kills and Kristen Mitchell with 16 digs.

In the second day of competition the Spartans were able to pull off the win in four sets against the University of Rochester, winning by scores of 25-21, 24-26, 25-22 and 25-17. The Spartans were led by Danielle Witri with 12 kills, with Pfaff leading again in blocks with 5 and Mitchell leading in digs for a second straight game with 15. The Spartans spread the production throughout the team and looked strong in the three games to close out the season.

Barton, Pfaff and Katie Best all earned honorable mentions to the All-UAA team to cap their season. Best moved to an outside hitter role and this season and had 165 kills and team bests of 354 digs and 32 service aces to get her second nod to the All-UAA team. Barton finished just ahead of Pfaff for the team lead in kills with 182 and 42 blocks. While Pfaff, second on the club with 181 kills, leading the squad 76 blocks of her own. Both Barton and Pfaff are first time honorees with bright futures for Spartan volleyball.

The Spartans finished the season at 18-12 overall with a fifth-place performance at the UAA Championship Tournament to provide the Spartans their sixth winning seasons in the past seven years. The Spartans will return to the court next September.