PALATINE, IL-  The 2016 National Champion Harper College volleyball team traveled to Rochester, MN over the weekend to defend their crown in the NJCAA National Tournament.  The Hawks would make it back to the championship game, but fall to Eastfield College in 4 sets to finish the season as the National Runner-Up.

QUARTER-FINALS
The Hawks began the tournament as the #1 overall seed and faced off against #8 Queensborough.  After a tightly contested first set that the Hawks won 25-20, Harper stayed in control with a 25-13 victory in set two.  The third set would be more difficult, but the Hawks were still able to finish the three-set sweep with a 25-22 victory.

Ellie Burzlaff led the way with 14 kills and Sarah Udoni was right behind her with 12.  Karolina Sas had 11 digs while Ariana Chelini chipped in 10 of her own.  Sophomore setter Emily Emily Huprich had 35 assists.

SEMIFINALS
With the win, the Hawks then took on Columbus State, who the Hawks defeated in four sets during the Lincoln Land Invitational in October.  The results would remain the same the second time around as Harper won in four sets, 25-20, 25-19, 18-25, and 25-23.

Burzlaff went off during the Semifinal matchup as she had an amazing 25 kills while the next closest player from either team had 10.  Chelini continued her excellent defense from the first match as she had 25 digs.  Huprich finished with 37 assists.

FINALS
After defeating Columbus State, the Hawks advanced to the finals to take on Eastfield College at 5pm on Saturday.  The first set did not go as planned as the Hawks fell 21-25.  However, Harper was able to bounce back in set two with a 25-22 victory to even the match at one set each.  Unfortunately for Harper, Eastfield played tough in the next two sets on the way to their first National Championship.

Burzlaff and Udoni once again led the way with 15 and 11 kills, respectively.  The Hawks received strong defense across the board as Burzlaff (12), Chelini (12), Huprich (11), and Breanna Cullen (11) all finished with double-digit digs.  Huprich also added 38 assists.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The Hawks had three sophomores get recognized with All-Tournament honors from their play in the National Tournament.  Ellie Burzlaff, Ariana Chelini, and Sarah Udoni all took home awards.