WAVERLY, Iowa— Heading to the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history, the No. 4 Wartburg College Knights defeated the Colorado College Tigers in three sets this evening inside Levick Arena.

The Knights posted set scores of 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 to advance to the regional championship.

The Knights will face the No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the regional championship on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.

The Knights first made a Sweet 16 appearance in 2003.

Game Summary

An early points battle was the game as the Knights and Tigers traded points with the teams playing for a chance at the Sweet 16. Early kills from Kylie Bildstein, Kennedy Meister, and Jayme Willemssen gave the Knights a 3-2 edge as Katie Foster recorded her first service ace of the game. A series of errors by the Tigers and kills from Zaiah Quirk gave the Knights a 15-8 lead early in the first set. The Tigers fought back to bring the match with two at 16-14 before Quirk extended the lead back to three. A kill from Allison Feigenbaum sealed the first set for the Knights, 25-18.

Channeling the momentum from the first set, the Knights opened the second set with a 9-6 lead including a pair of kills from Feigenbaum. The Tigers fought back to bring the game within on at 14-13 before Willemssen and Quirk answered with back-to-back kills. Caroline Kluesner recorded a pair of service aces late as the Knights built a 6-point lead. The second set was all Feigenbaum as three of the last six kills for the Knights came from her.

The Tigers weren't going down without a fight, taking a 7-3 lead early in the third set. A pair of kills from Meister stopped a run by the Tigers. A series of serves from Natalie Clayberg helped the Knights take a late 13-10 lead. The Tigers would tie the game twice (13-13, 14-14) before a service error shifted the momentum in favor of the Knights. Meister added three kills in the final points as the Knights defeated the Tigers 25-17 to advance.

"You don't expect to have a match like we did. All the credit to the athletes on the court for the defensive and offensive pressure for a great team win," noted head coach Doug Frazell.

A Look at the Numbers

The Knights were led by 10 kills from Quirk and nine kills from Meister and eight from Feigenbaum. The Knights tallied 41 kills, hitting a .289 in the match with six errors.

Bildstein led the Knights in total blocks as five of the eight blocks by the Knights were credited to her. Kluesner recorded two service aces as the Knights recorded four as a team.

Defensively, Foster led the Knights with 19 digs, followed by 16 from Kluesner and 11 from Meister. The Knights defense recorded 72 total digs in three sets.

The Tigers had a hitting percentage of .122 as Georgia Mullins led the Tigers with 17 of the teams 38 kills. Isabella Vasquez added 19 digs, while Peyton Hummel recorded 17 of the teams 69 total digs.

Tournament Recap

The second day of the NCAA Regional Tournament saw the No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps take on the No. 21 Bethel Royals. The Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defeated the Royals in three sets, 25-17, 25-16, 28-26.

A Look at the Numbers Nationally (As of 11/07/21)
 
The Knights are one of two unbeaten teams in the nation, with the other unbeaten team being No. 1 Johns Hopkins. The Knights lead the conference in blocks per set, digs per set, kills per set, hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, and total team blocks.
 
Foster leads the A-R-C in digs per set (5.96) and ranks No. 8 nationally in this category. Bildstein leads the A-R-C in blocks per set (.96), hitting percentage (.427), and total blocks (92). Bildstein is ranked No. 4 in the nation in hitting percentage. Marsh is second in the conference in assists per set (10.29) and has recorded 988 total assists this season.
 
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