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Rockhurst University Athletics

NCAA Elite Eight

Women's Volleyball

Hawks meet Carson-Newman in national quarterfinals

Pre-Tournament Press Conference
(Scroll to 10:15 mark in video)

The Rockhurst University women's volleyball team will be making their third appearance in the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals. The Hawks will take on Carson-Newman (Tenn.) (28-7) on Thursday, December 12 in a 12:00 p.m. (Mountain time) national quarterfinal match at the Auraria Event Center on the Metro State University-Denver campus in downtown Denver, Colorado.

Media Coverage: Live internet statistics and a live video webcast will be offered by the NCAA for all matches at the national championships. All links will be available at www.ncaa.com and www.rockhursthawks.com.

2019 Record: Rockhurst currently has a 32-7 overall record after capturing the NCAA Midwest Regional in Romeoville, Illinois. The Hawks have won 16 of their last 17 matches.

RU vs. Carson-Newman: Rockhurst and Carson-Newman will be meeting each other for the first time. Carson-Newman is in the NCAA national quarterfinals for the second time in the last five years. The Eagles won the Southeast Region by sweeping Augusta (Ga.) in the finals. The Eagles were champions of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament and reached the national quarterfinals four years ago in Tampa, Florida.

Midwest Regional Champions: The Hawks captured their third NCAA regional championship on December 7 in Romeoville, Illinois. Rockhurst defeated 10th-ranked and G-MAC champion Hillsdale by a 3-0 score in the Midwest Regional finals. The Hawks also defeated 17th-ranked Ferris State (3-2) and 14th-ranked Lewis (3-0) in the first two rounds of the regional.

Regional All-Tournament Honors: The Hawks had four players named to the NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team last weekend: senior outside hitter Karli Reichert, senior middle hitter Mary Rolf, junior right side hitter Audrey Arand and junior setter Dani Prusha.

NCAA Tourney History: Rockhurst is making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships and has reached the regional finals 10 times. The Hawks suffered losses in the regional finals to Grand Valley State in 2005 and 2014, along with falling in the regional finals in 1998 and 1999 to North Alabama, 2002 to West Texas A&M, 2003 to Nebraska-Kearney and 2018 to Lewis. Rockhurst has compiled a 21-12 overall record in NCAA Tournament competition.

National Coach of the Year: Head coach Tracy Rietzke was named the AVCA Division II National Coach of the Year on Wednesday. Rietzke ranks among the nation's top active coaches with a 1,276-284 (.818) career record. He holds a record of 1,104-228 (.829) at Rockhurst. Rietzke ranks first all-time in Division II and stands fourth in career victories for all three levels of NCAA women's volleyball head coaches. He was featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd after posting his 1,000th career victory at the beginning of the 2010 season.

All-American Recognition: Senior outside hitter Karli Reichert (Kansas City, Mo.) was named a first team AVCA All-American for the second year in a row. Senior outside hitter Alyssa Woodman (Omaha, Neb.) earned AVCA All-American honorable mention honors. Woodman was a third team All-American in 2018.

National Attention: Rockhurst was ranked 14th in the AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Hawks were ranked 19th in the last regular season AVCA D2 Top 25 Poll. Rockhurst's fifth-place national ranking in 2015 was the program's highest ranking since joining the NCAA in 1998. The Hawks have been ranked in the D2 Top 25 National Poll a total of 165 weeks.

Recent Success: Over the past six years, the Hawks have compiled a 239-52 overall record, which includes a 120-21 mark in GLVC regular season action. Rockhurst has appeared in six NCAA Tournaments and captured three Midwest Regional titles while winning 14 of 19 NCAA matches since 2014.

Home Cooking: The Hawks have been dominant at home where they went a perfect 8-0 at Mason-Halpin Field House this season. Rockhurst has won 94 of its last 100 matches at home dating back to 2012.

45th Season: The 2019 campaign represents Rockhurst's 43rd season of women's volleyball. The Hawks own an all-time record of 1,350-414-6 (.764). Since the program's inception in 1975, the Hawks have qualified 19 times for the NAIA and NCAA II national tournaments and registered 37 winning seasons.

GLVC Award Recipients: Rockhurst earned five All-GLVC honorees this fall: senior outside hitter Karli Reichert (Kansas City, Mo.), senior outside hitter Alyssa Woodman (Omaha, Neb.) and junior setter Dani Prusha (Papillion, Neb.) were first-team selections. Senior middle hitter Mary Rolf (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Jadyn Makovicka (Gretna, Neb.) were named to the second team. Reichert was also named the GLVC Player of the Year.

2019 RU Roster: Rockhurst's 2019 NCAA roster includes five seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen representing eight different states. Ten members of the team are from Missouri (5) and Nebraska (5). The other six student-athletes are from Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin and Ohio.

2019 NCAA Division II National Championships
Thursday, December 12
#3 Rockhurst vs. #6 Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 12:00 pm
#2 Nebraska-Kearney vs. #7 Gannon (Pa.), 2:30 pm
#4 Regis (Colo.) vs. #5 Saint Leo (Fla.), 5:00 pm
#1 Cal State San Bernardino vs. #8 Molloy (N.Y.), 7:30 pm

Friday, December 13
Semifinals, 5:00 and 7:30 pm

Saturday, December 14
Final, 5:00 pm
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Players Mentioned

Audrey Arand

#22 Audrey Arand

RS
5' 11"
Junior
Rockwood Thunder
Dani Prusha

#10 Dani Prusha

S
5' 9"
Junior
Premier
Karli Reichert

#6 Karli Reichert

OH
5' 11"
Senior
Club North
Mary Rolf

#2 Mary Rolf

MH
5' 11"
Senior
Platform Elite
Alyssa Woodman

#11 Alyssa Woodman

OH
6' 0"
Senior
Premier
Jadyn Makovicka

#5 Jadyn Makovicka

L / DS
5' 6"
Freshman
VC Nebraska 18 Elite

Players Mentioned

Audrey Arand

#22 Audrey Arand

5' 11"
Junior
Rockwood Thunder
RS
Dani Prusha

#10 Dani Prusha

5' 9"
Junior
Premier
S
Karli Reichert

#6 Karli Reichert

5' 11"
Senior
Club North
OH
Mary Rolf

#2 Mary Rolf

5' 11"
Senior
Platform Elite
MH
Alyssa Woodman

#11 Alyssa Woodman

6' 0"
Senior
Premier
OH
Jadyn Makovicka

#5 Jadyn Makovicka

5' 6"
Freshman
VC Nebraska 18 Elite
L / DS