Rockhurst will play in its first NCAA Division II Final Four on Friday night, as the Hawks face Concordia-St. Paul.
NCAA Final Four
#5 Rockhurst vs. #1 Concordia-St. Paul
Friday, December 8, 7:30 PM CST
Pensacola, FL
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Elite Eight
After falling behind after the opening set, Rockhurst dug its way to a 3-1 victory over Flagler in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball National Championships Thursday night at UWP Field House in Pensacola, Florida.
"It's great to beat a team as good as Flagler and advance to the final four. We played great defense," said Rockhurst
Tracy Rietzke, who has now won 1,212 matches over his 36 seasons as a college coach.
Alyssa Woodman led the Hawks with 21 kills and nine digs. The sophomore outside hitter posted 18 kills over the final three sets, which the Hawks won by scores of 25-15, 25-22 and 25-20.
Karli Reichert tallied 14 kills and six digs.
Mary Rolf collected 11 kills and four blocks.
Audrey Arand added eight kills and four blocks.
Anne Hellwege (32) and
Kalie Arnold (20) combined for 52 digs as the Hawks finished with 92 digs.
Grace Carter posted 52 assists and nine digs.
Blake Berhorst also had nine digs.
About Rockhurst
The GLVC West champions enter Friday 32-7, including a 14-4 record in conference. Rockhurst has won 14 of its last 15 matches.
The Hawks advanced to the GLVC Tournament Championship, before falling to Lewis in five sets.
Five different Hawks earned GLVC honors.
Alyssa Woodman,
Grace Carter,
Anne Hellwege, Karli Reichert and
Mary Rolf all earned All-GLVC Second Team honors.
National Leaders
Rockhurst is among the national leaders in various categories. The Hawks are third in kills (1,892), fourth in assists (1,781) and rank seventh in total attacks (5,002). They also are 19th in the country in assists per set, 12th in hitting percentage, and 16th in kills per set.
Alyssa Woodman led the Hawks with 1,322 total attacks, good for 27th in the country.
Anne Hellwege, the school's all-time digs leaders, is 18th in the country in total digs.
Making History
Rockhurst will be playing in it's first NCAA Division II Final Four Friday night after beating Flagler 3-1. The Hawks have played in only one Elite Eight previously, losing to Western Washington in 2015.
Coach Tracy Rietzke
Tracy Rietzke has led the Hawks for 30 years. Rietzke became the fifth volleyball coach in NCAA history to rack up 1,200 wins in a career on October 27. RU has averaged more than 34 wins per season and advanced to post-season play 23 times under Rietzke. He is currently the fourth-winningest women's volleyball coach in NCAA history.
About Concordia-St. Paul
The third ranked Concordia Gold Bears enter Friday 32-3 on the year. Concordia swept New Haven on Friday (December 7) to earn their way back to the National Semifinal.
The Golden Bears made it 10 wins in a row in the NCAA Tournament as they improved their all-time record to 65-6 in 71 tourney matches. Concordia will be making their 10th appearance in the national semifinals as the win moves CSP to 10-1 in national quarterfinal matches. In their nine previous trips to the semis, the Golden Bears have gone a perfect 9-0 to garner a place in the championship match each season. Concordia's success in the title match has been well documented as the Golden Bears have won a record eight NCAA Division II Championships, all of which coming since the 2007 season.
Next Up
National Championship
#5 Rockhurst/#1 Concordia-St. Paul vs. #7 Gannon/#3 Florida Southern
Saturday, December 9,5:00 PM CST
Pensacola, FL
