The Millikin Women’s volleyball team has been on a tear this season.
After going into the first week of play unranked, they beat a pair of ranked teams to earn a spot in the national polls. They have stayed in the national rankings for the rest of the season, currently sitting at tenth in all of Division 3.
The team ended the regular season with a 28-4 record before entering the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament. The Big Blue entered as the second seed in the conference, after going 6-2 in conference play. They beat Carthage College in 5 sets in the semifinal to advance to the title game, their first time playing in the championship match since 2019. The team traveled to Bloomington on Saturday, November 16, to play top seeded Illinois Wesleyan. Despite a hard fought 5 set match, the Big Blue came up short of the conference title.
However, the team’s outstanding regular season record, coupled with numerous AVCA top 25 wins, earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. This will mark the third straight year that the Big Blue have gone to the national tournament.
The team consists of three all conference players, announced last week. Sophomore middle blocker Kyra Carothers put up an impressive campaign, leading the conference in hitting percentage at an astounding .372. Carothers is also at the top of the conference in blocking, with 117 blocks in 116 sets played this year. Junior Delaney Higgins was also named first team all conference, after finishing regular season in the top ten in hitting percentage and kills per set in the conference.
Senior outside hitter Kailee Itzenhuiser was the third and final Millikin player named to the all conference team, after leading the big blue in kills and total points, as well as ending second in digs.
When asked about how it felt to make the national tournament again, junior Addison Oyer was very excited.
“It’s an amazing opportunity. I never want to take it for granted that our season gets to continue for this long,” she said. “I’m really excited to get back to NCAAs and hopefully make a deep run this year.”
Oyer has made it to the NCAA tournament every year of her college career so far.
The team will travel to Hope College in Holland, MI to face off against Cornell College in the first round. First serve is at 2 pm ET. The Big Blue faced off against Cornell last year in the postseason, with the Rams emerging victorious after a 4 set battle. The Big Blue, as a #2 seed in their regional, hope to return the favor this year and end Cornell’s season.
