PALATINE, IL-  The #1 ranked and defending National Champion Harper College women's volleyball team traveled to Elgin to partake in the Region IV tournament.  After winning two great matches, the Hawks clinched a berth into the National Tournament in Rochester, MN next weekend.

MATCH 1: Harper defeated Rock Valley (25-22, 25-20, 25-20)

After an ominous 0-5 start in the first set, the Hawks battled back to make the score 4-6 and 5-10.  Harper was able to remain close and go on a couple of runs to eventually tie the match at 17-17 behind Ellie Burzlaff's serving and Sarah Udoni's strong net defense.  The set saw ties at 18-18, 21-21, and 22-22 before the Hawks finally ended the first set with a 25-22 victory.  Burzlaff finished with 8 kills while Udoni had 5 kills and 1.5 blocks.  Sophomore setter Emily Huprich had an incredible 18 assists and Ariana Chelini had 11 digs.

Set two began close again, as both teams battled to an early 4-4 tie before the Hawks took the lead at 6-4 and 9-6.  However, the Golden Eagles hung tough and tied the set at 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, and 12-12.  Harper finally had enough of the back and forth and took a 16-12 lead.  The Hawks would remain on top for the rest of the set and win by a score of 25-20.  Sarah Udoni led the Harper offense with 7 kills while Burzlaff and Breanna Cullen each added 5 kills of their own.  Emily Huprich had another 17 assists.  The serving combination of Cullen and Karolina Sas was a perfect 10-10.

In the third set, the teams fought to a total of 8 ties throughout.  The first four of those came between points 5 and 10 in the set.  Emily Huprich finally gave the Hawks some breathing room as her serves put them ahead 13-10 before the Golden Eagles took a timeout.  After the break, the next four ties happened, the last of which being at 20-20.  Harper would then go on to score the next 5 points to win the match with a 25-20 third set victory.  Cullen filled the stat sheet in the deciding set with 5 kills, 7-7 serving, and an ace.  Ellie Burzlaff had 4 kills and 6 digs.  Emily Huprich had 11 assists and was 9-9 serving with 2 aces.

With Huprich's 46 assists, she set a new Harper record that had been previously held since 2006.

MATCH 2: Harper defeated Madison College (20-25, 25-22, 25-11, 22-25, 16-14)

Following up their September 19th classic, the Hawks and WolfPack battled in an incredible five-set match where the winner would advance to the national tournament.

The first set started close with ties at 1-1, 3-3, and 4-4 before Harper opened up a five point lead at 11-6.  Harper was able to maintain the edge for a 20-14 lead when Madison called a timeout.  Unfortunately for the Hawks, their late set woes from the season popped up again as Madison scored the next 11 points to take the first set.  In the loss, Ellie Burzlaff and Marielle Lugo each had 3 kills off of Emily Huprich's 10 assists.

Set two saw four more early ties before Karolina Sas' serves put the Hawks ahead 9-6.  The advantage would hold until another Madison comeback, this time to tie the set at 17 each.  This time, however, the Hawks would not allow the WolfPack to keep momentum and Harper answered back with a 25-20 second set victory.  Ellie Burzlaff led the way with 6 kills while Breanna Cullen had 3.  Mackenzie Bush was a force at the net with 2 kills and 2 block-kills.  Emily Huprich had 13 assists while Burzlaff and Ariana Chelini combined for 12 digs.  Sas was 5-5 serving with an ace and Gabby Fugle had 2 aces of her own.

The third set looked more like the #1 ranked Hawks as Ariana Chelini and Ellie Burzlaff each had strong serving runs to build a Hawk lead.  Chelini put the Hawks ahead 8-3 while Burzlaff was able to extend the lead to 11-4.  The Hawks would double their lead until the end of the set and won by a score of 25-11.  In addition to her serving, Burzlaff went off with her attacks as she had an amazing 10 kills on 13 attacks.  Emily Huprich finished with 13 assists and Chelini had 5 digs and 2 aces.

After the big set three win, the fourth set saw some more frustration from the beginning of the match.  After a commanding 17-11 lead, Madison was able to once again battle back to a 19-19 tie.  The set would remain tied until 22-22 and then Madison scored the next three points to extend the match to a decisive fifth set.  Breanna Cullen paced the Harper attack with 5 kills while Huprich had another 11 assists.

The fifth set started out poorly for the Hawks as they were down 0-5 in the first to fifteen set.  However, all it took was one swing and the Hawks were back.  Breanna Cullen had 9 consecutive service points to put Harper ahead 9-5.  But of course, Madison would tie the set again at 10-10.  Harper would bounce back for a 14-12 lead on a Marielle Lugo kill.  Despite the Hawks needing one more point to head to nationals, the WolfPack were not ready to see their season end.  They went on another short run tie the score at 14 apiece before Harper jumped ahead 15-14.  Freshman Gabby Fugle stepped up to the service line with the chance to play hero and she did not disappoint as her serve barely skimmed across the net and fell for an ace.  The Hawks were able to take the deciding set 16-14 and earned a berth in the national tournament.

Head coach Bob Vilsoet was excited for the Hawks and complimented Madison on an incredible run this season.  "Both teams played their and played their hearts out in a very nerve-wracking, excitement filled game with momentum swings, ties, lead chances, and just generally a very very high level of volleyball between the top two teams in the country"

"This was one of the most exciting matches i've ever been a part of," Viloset continued.  "There were lead changes, momentum swings, large deficits and comebacks, and the deciding th set ended up 16-14 of course on an ace that trickled over the net.  Both teams deserve to represent this region at Nationals.  Both teams played at the top of their games today."

With the Region IV title, the Hawks clinched a berth to the NJCAA Nationals in Rochester, Minnesota on November 10th and 11th.