Scorpions Stop Virginia-Wise;
Advance to Top 10 Matchup
Posted November 29, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The UTB/TSC women's volleyball team had reached a major milestone to qualify for the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Tournament.

Now, they have accomplished another, advancing out of Pool Play into a field of 10 teams, after shutting down the University of Virginia-College at Wise, 3-0, here Thursday, November 29.

UTB/TSC won by scores of 30-20, 30-23, 30-13.

The Scorpions, now 35-8, will play Madonna University (Mich.) (35-11) at 10:30 a.m. Friday, November 30. The winner advances to the quarterfinals against the nation's top-ranked team, Fresno Pacific University, at 3:30 p.m. The loser finishes tied for ninth in the nation.

"We had set a goal to get to the national tournament, and when we got here, we wanted to finish among the top 10 teams," Scorpion head coach Marcus Young said. "Now, we'd like win tomorrow and get to the quarterfinals."

The Scorpions, who came into the tournament as the 12th seed, will play as the No. 2 team in Pool B, while Madonna, the 13th seed, is the No. 2 team in Pool C.

AUTB/TSC played strong in the victory over Virginia-Wise, led by middle blocker Talita Milasauskas with 14 kills in 19 attempts for a .684 hitting percentage. She added eight digs.

The Scorpions were never seriously threatened by Virginia-Wise, who won Region XII and who came into the tournament as the No. 19 seed.

Co-captains Jenny Ashley and Katie Japp had seven kills each, while Jacque Touchet had six. Lesly Montes had seven digs for the Scorpions. Setter Daianarah Bracero had 31 assists.

All 12 Scorpion players got into the statistical category, as Young to empty his bench in the third game.

The tournament semifinals are scheduled Saturday morning and the championship match is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

All Scorpion matches will be audio webcast through the Scorpion Athletics website at http://athletics.utb.edu.