Hiram Ends Wooster's Season in NCAC Tournament Semis

The College of Wooster volleyball team saw its season come to an end on Friday night as Hiram College took down the Fighting Scots in three-straight sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-12) in the semifinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Springfield, Ohio.

The No. 2 seeded Terriers (23-9) had been a thorn in the No. 3 seeded Scots (21-10) side all season long, but Wooster gave Hiram all it could handle in the early goings in this match. The Scots totaled nine kills and zero errors on 53 attempts in the opening set, but got behind late and dropped a competitive battle. Then in the second set, Wooster raced out to a 5-0 lead that was propelled by Margaret Raabe, who served four-consecutive points to put the Scots in control. Hiram then went on a run themselves, coming back to win the second set and eventually closing out the match decisively in the third.

KateLynn Riley led Wooster in scoring, tallying nine kills on 39 attempts, while also adding a solo block and a block assist on the night. Lizzi Beal, Erin Webster, and Melissa Morgan chipped in four kills each, also adding 10, 11, and 13 digs, respectively. Raabe served up the team's lone service ace during her run that opened the second set, and she also racked up nine digs.

This season marked Wooster's second-consecutive 20-win campaign, and its fourth tournament appearance since 2004. Hiram, along with No. 1 seeded Wittenberg University, were the only two teams in the NCAC to have beaten the Scots this season. Ironically, Wittenberg topped No. 4 Allegheny College earlier on Friday, and will meet Hiram in the NCAC Tournament Finals on Saturday at 2 p.m.