ROCHESTER -- For the second year in a row, the Ridgewater Lady Warriors will meet Central Lakes College of Brainerd in the NJCAA Division III semifinals.
The Lady Warriors (33-5) went 7-2 in pool play Friday at the Regional Fitness Center. The only two losses came in the day's final match with defending champion Brookhaven College of Farmers Branch, Texas.
The Lady Bears prevailed in a close match, 30-24, 29-31, 30-24.
Brookhaven will meet Edison (Ohio) Community College in today's other semifinal match.
Ridgewater tripped Central Lakes a year ago in the semifinals, but the Raiders edged Ridgewater in October in the MCCC state championship match.
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The seedings held true through Friday's 12 matches. Central Lakes (32-3) came in seeded No. 1, Brookhaven No. 2, Ridgewater of Willmar No. 3, and Edison No. 5, behind Harper, Ill., which went 3-3.
Brookhaven, which is in northwest suburban Dallas, beat Ridgewater 3-1 in last year's final.
Central Lakes has held the No. 1 ranking in Division III all season. Harper College, of Palatine, Ill., came in ranked No. 2 and Ridgewater No. 3.
Brookhaven was No. 4, though its 15 losses likely reflects the effects of carrying the toughest regular-season schedule of any team in the tournament.
Central Lakes won two of three matches from Ridgewater this fall.
"It's a rivalry," said Ridgewater coach Joe Sussenguth. "We know we can play with them. Hopefully, we've gotten better and I've gotten smarter over the course of the season."
Ridgewater College 3, Catabawa Valley, N.C., 0
Hilary Groothuis notched 10 kills in 15 attempts and Ashley Olson drilled eight ace serves at the Lady Warriors swept the Buccaneers from Hickory, N.C.
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Catawaba Valley (19-3).................................17 16 11
Ridgewater College (32-4)..............................30 30 30
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Catawaba Valley, N.C.
No statistics available from NJCAA
Ridgewater College
Serving: Ashley Olson 21-22-8, Ashley Hennen 10-10-1, Kayla Powers 1-1-0, Jackie Noyes 8-8-0, Laura Suter 18-18-4, Hilary Groothuis 4-4-0, Amy Ballard 10-11-0, Melissa Sterkel 8-9-2 ... Setting: Suter 74-74-31... Hitting: A. Olson 13-15-8, Hennen 21-22-6, Powers 7-8-2, Noyes 10-12-4, Groothuis 14-15-10, Sterkel 5-7-3, Suter 4-4-1... Blocking (aces): Powers 1, Noyes 2, Sterkel 2, Groothuis 3 ... Digs: Brittany Haas 10, Jenna Olson 8, A. Olson 10, Hennen 12, Ballard 8, Powers 3, Noyes 1, Sterkel 4, Suter 1, Groothuis 2
Ridgewater College 3, Monroe (NY) CC 0
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Ashley Hennen had 14 kills in 20 attempts and Groothuis 10 in 18 tries for Ridgewater. Amy Ballard delivered eight ace serves. Ballard and Hennen each had 15 digs.
Ridgewater College (33-4)..............................30 30 30
Monroe CC (21-15)......................................20 16 16
Ridgewater College
Serving: Ashley Olson 12-13-4, Ashley Hennen 16-16-1, Kayla Powers, Jackie Noyes 10-10-0, Laura Suter 12-13-2, Hilary Groothuis 7-8-0, Amy Ballard 27-28-6 ... Setting: Suter 80-80-36 ... Hitting: A. Olson 20-23-6, Hennen 19-20-14, Brittany Haas 1-1-0, Powers 13-15-5, Noyes 13-14-7, Hilary Groothuis 16-18-10, Ballard 1-1-0, Sterkel 2-2-0, Suter 5-5-4 ... ... Blocking (aces): A. Olson 2, Noyes 4, Suter 2, Groothuis 2... Digs: Haas 11, Jenna Olson 1, A. Olson 12, Hennen 15, Ballard 15, Powers 5, Noyes 2, Suter 7, Groothuis 2
Monroe Community College
No statistics available from NJCAA
Brookhaven 2, Ridgewater 1
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Down 24-28 in the second game, the Lady Warriors battled back to win 31-29 against the defending national champions from Texas.
"Brookhaven is solid and dynamic offensively," said Sussenguth. "They have phenomenal outside hitters forcing us to expend a lot of energy on defense."
Hennen posted 18 digs, Ashley Olson 16 and Brittany Haas 16, also. Laura Sute3r had 30 set assists, giving her 97 for the day. Jackie Noyes got three blocks to total nine in three matches.
Ridgewater (33-5)......................................24 31 24
Brookhaven (27-15).....................................30 29 20
Ridgewater College
Serving: Ashley Olson 8-12-1, Ashley Hennen 15-15-1, Kayla Powers, Jackie Noyes 2-3-0, Laura Suter 9-10-0, Hilary Groothuis 11-12-1, Amy Ballard 16-16-1, Brittany Haas 8-10-1 ... Setting: Suter 93-93-30 ... Hitting: Ashley Olson 29-34-8, Ashley Hennen 22-23-8, Brittany Haas 1-1-0, Powers 13-13-3, Noyes 14-15-3, Suter 7-9-4, Groothuis 21-25-9 ... ... Blocking (aces): Hennen 3, Noyes 3, Suter 1, Groothuis 3 ... Digs: Haas 16, Jenna Olson 3, A. Olson 16, Hennen 18, Ballard 13, Powers 3, Noyes 1, Suter 12, Groothuis 2
Brookhaven (Texas) College
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No statistics available from NJCAA
