The Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship turned into redemption weekend for Washington-St. Louis.

In each round at the finals site on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan, the Bears avenged a loss. In the quarterfinals, they dispatched Emory, which had downed them in the University Athletic Association championship in November. Then in the semifinals, the Bears turned the tables on previously unbeaten Wittenberg, which defeated them in a regular-season match in September.

Awaiting them in the final was Wisconsin-Whitewater, which also beat the Bears early in the season. This time, though, the result was a five-game championship win.

The Bears’ 30-25, 23-30, 30-22, 28-30, 15-13 victory wasn’t secured until senior Ellen Bruegge registered her 11th kill on the Bears’ third match point of the fifth game.

“It feels so amazing” Bruegge told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Just the game itself, it was every other point; it took so much intensity and determination. It’s everything we worked for.”

It marks the ninth time the Bears have won the title, but it’s the first since 2003.

Bears senior Haleigh Spencer said the team played its best volleyball at the end of the season.
“We didn’t hit our peak until the regional championship game against Carthage,” she said. “Since the loss to Emory we were a completely different team. I don’t know if people know how hard we worked for this all season — we started from scratch.”

Spencer, an all-tournament selection, led Washington-St. Louis with 19 kills in the final. She also recorded 31 digs.

Alli Alberts, the tournament’s most outstanding player, had 15 kills and 22 digs against Wisconsin-Whitewater (36-5). Junior setter Audra Janak also was named to the all-tournament team after registering 58 assists in the final.

“We talked about energy and having composure,” said Washington-St. Louis coach Rich Luenemann, whose team finished 33-5. “They left every timeout with confidence that they could execute.”

Wisconsin-Whitewater’s balanced attack was led by Kelly Sorenson and Rebekah Nelson, who had 16 and 15 kills, respectively.

The Warhawks rallied from a 2-1 deficit by taking the fourth game, 30-28, to set up the decisive final.

“I am proud of the way we handled many different pressure situations,” said Wisconsin-Whitewater coach Stacy Boudreau.

Winning the national championship was probably the furthest thing from Luenemann’s mind of after the way his team began the season. The Bears opened with a 7-4 record and a three-match losing streak after three weeks of play.

“We were not a strong team at the beginning of the year, but we came into practice, worked hard at getting better and fought through it,” Luenemann said. “If any team is deserving of winning a national championship, it is this group.”

Quarterfinals
Wittenberg def. Stevens Inst., 30-18, 30-26, 30-19; Washington-St. Louis def. Emory, 30-19, 21-30, 30-27, 30-18; Wis.-Whitewater def. Puget Sound, 30-17, 30-23, 30-25; Juniata def. Amherst, 30-8, 30-22, 30-21.

Semifinals
Wis.-Whitewater def. Juniata, 30-28, 30-28, 30-25; Washington-St. Louis def. Wittenberg, 25-30, 30-25, 30-28, 30-15.

Championship
Washington-St. Louis 30 23 30 28 15
Wisconsin-Whitewater 25 30 22 30 13

Washington-St. Louis K E TA Pct. A SA D TB
Audra Janak 6 2 26 .154 58 0 14 1
Haleigh Spencer 19 4 59 .254 3 1 31 2
Erin Albers 16 5 41 .268 0 0 2 3
Alli Alberts 15 11 48 .083 4 0 22 1
Nikki Morrison 8 7 38 .026 4 0 8 3
Ellen Bruegge 11 4 34 .206 1 1 4 3
Laura Brazeal 0 0 1 .000 0 0 32 0
Lindsay Schuessler 0 0 1 .000 0 1 17 0
Ali Crouch 0 1 1 .00 0 0 0 0
Vicki Blood 0 0 2 .000 2 1 6 0
Totals 75 34 251 .163 72 4 136 13

Wis.-Whitewater K E TA Pct. A SA D TB
Abby Schultz 10 9 53 .019 0 1 29 5
Sarah Theis 7 4 23 .130 0 0 1 1
Rebekah Nelson 15 5 57 .175 3 0 16 2
Kate Lazotte 3 2 16 .062 57 2 22 1 

Kelly Sorenson 16 4 47 .255 0 0 23 3
Carley Polk 14 9 45 .111 0 0 1 9
Alyse Karlis 0 0 1 .000 0 0 2 0
Kristina Conlin 0 0 0 .000 2 0 21 0
Stephanie Gardon 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Liz Benzschawel 1 2 10 .000 0 0 1 1
Totals 66 35 252 .123 62 3 116 22