Box Score #11 Wayne State 3 Carson-Newman (Tenn.) 1

            #11 Wayne State College used a match-high 19 kills from junior middle hitter Alyssa Frauendorfer and withstood a rally by Carson-Newman to post a 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 25-16 victory over the Eagles Thursday evening in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Quarterfinals at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center in Tampa, Florida.  The 28-7 Wildcats now advance to the national semi-finals on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. Central Time against #13 Palm Beach Atlantic, who swept NYIT 3-0 Thursday night, while Carson-Newman ends the season with a 29-8 record.
            The first set was close early until the Wildcats used a key run fueled by Frauendorfer to break open the set.  With the score tied at 13 in an early battle that featured seven ties and two lead changes, the 'Cats got a kill from Frauendorfer followed by a service ace that led to four straight points won giving WSC an 18-13 lead. 
            Carson-Newman rallied to get within two at 19-17, but the 'Cats responded and used kills from Frauendorfer and Elizabeth Gebhardt to take a 22-18 lead and WSC went on to win the first set 25-20.
            The second set went down in similar fashion in favor of the Wildcats again.  The early part of the set featured six ties and one lead change.  Knotted at 10 all, WSC used an Eagle attack error to take the lead for good followed by five straight points served by senior libero Courtney VanGroningen that included an ace to put the 'Cats in front 16-10. 
            Again, Carson-Newman rallied and forced a WSC timeout after the Eagles pulled within two at 21-19.  But the Wildcats forced two service errors and used kills by Katie Hughes and Michaela Mestl to record a 25-22 second set win.
            The third set was close early, featuring seven ties and five lead changes, but Carson-Newman gained momentum late in the set to make the match interesting.
            With WSC trailing 19-18, the Eagles closed out the set with six straight points forcing four Wildcat attack errors as Carson-Newman was energized following a 25-18 third set win.
            The Eagles carried that momentum early in the fourth set, holding a 7-5 lead on WSC until the Wildcats caught fire to finish off Carson-Newman.
            Down 7-5, WSC used an Eagle service error followed by two kills from Meslt, a service ace by Hughes and a solo block from Alex Opperman to grab a 10-7 lead.  After Carson-Newman evened the score at 10, WSC then used an Eagle service error and seven straight points served by VanGroningen that included an ace and three massive kills from Frauendorfer that put WSC in front 18-10 and the Wildcats pulled away for the 25-16 win to finish the match with a 3-1 victory.
            "We had to grind it out tonight, give Carson-Newman a lot of credit for coming back," said WSC head coach Scott Kneifl.  "Our ball control wasn't the greatest tonight but we found a way to win and that's what matters.  They served aggressive and took us out of system a lot tonight, but we started finding ourselves in the fourth set and that was good to see."
            Wayne State hit .232 for the match with 56 kills on 142 attacks and 23 errors while Carson-Newman posted a .190 attack percentage on 45 kills and 142 attacks with 18 errors.  The 'Cats held a 70-55 advantage in digs and 9-7 in blocks over the Eagles.  The Wildcats had four service aces and eight errors while Carson-Newman recorded seven service aces with 13 errors.
            Frauendorfer led the Wildcats with 19 kills and a .562 attack percentage on just one attack error and 32 attempts.  "Our coaches prepared us well for the match and Leisa knows where to put the ball," said Frauendorfer.  She also had a team high five blocks included two solo.
            Michaela Mestl and Katie Hughes each added double-doubles in the win for the Wildcats as Mestl produced 14 kills and 14 digs followed by Hughes with 12 kills and 18 digs.  Senior setter Leisa McClintock handed out 48 set assists in the win while senior libero Courtney VanGroningen accounted for 20 digs for the Wildcats.