STORM LAKE, Iowa-- Wartburg College claimed its seventh regular season conference championship in school history and sixth in seven seasons tonight, Tuesday night, October 23, 2018.
With the league standings up in the air heading into tonight's three conference match-ups and tomorrow night's one, the Knights needed a win and they would claim the outright league title and the American Rivers Conference tournament's No.1 seed. With a 3-0 road sweep of Buena Vista, that's exactly what the Knights did.
Wartburg appeared to be on a mission against the Beavers, taking set one 25-15. However, Buena Vista was playing for an improved seed in this year's tournament and battled hard in set two, but the Knights were to much, winning the set 25-22. Set three was once again a back and forth battle but Wartburg sealed the win 25-23.
Offensively, Wartburg was led by
Lizzy Blough with 15 kills.
Katie Foster recorded two aces for the Knights and
Kylie Bildstein had a team high five blocks.
Mallary Erbes led Wartburg in assists (36) and digs (15).
Buena Vista saw
Sydney McLaren pace the team in kills with 18.
Mackenzie Gropel recorded a team high 36 assists and 15 digs.
Wartburg has earned the No.1 seed in the 2018 American Rivers Conference tournament. Dubuqe, Luther, Loras, Coe, and Buena Vista have all secured berths to this year's tournament. Final seeds will be determined after tomorrow nights match between Dubuque and Loras.
The tournament begins Tuesday, October 30th with the 4/5 seeds and the 3/6 seeds meeting at the higher seeded home court. On Thursday, November 1st the winner of the 4/5 opening round game will travel to the No.1-seeded Wartburg, while the 3/6 winner will make the trip to the No. 2 seed. The championship match-up will be held at the home venue of the higher seeded team on Saturday, November 3rd. The winner of the 2018 Conference Tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Regional play of the NCAA Division III Tournament takes place 11/08/2018 - 11/11/2018 at eight, to be determined, campus sites. The tournament finals will take place 11/15/2018 - 11/17/2018 at the A.J. Palumbo Center (Pittsburgh, PA), Hosted by Saint Vincent College and SportsPITTSBURGH.
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