The #23 ranked Millikin University volleyball team played in the CCIW Volleyball Tournament Championship match and lost 3-2 to #14 Carthage College. Carthage (34-3), the regular season conference champ, received the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Volleyball Tournament. Big Blue, with stats of 30-9 this season, has to wait until Monday morning to see if the team will be awarded a berth into the tournament. The five set match was deserving of a championship event when Carthage took the first two sets 25-18 and 25-19, but Millikin rallied to win the third set 25-21 and kept the levels high into the fourth set winning 26-24. Carthage then took control again in the deciding fifth set and received a 15-6 win. Jade Becker (Senior) led the Big Blue with 13 kills and six blocks. Erin Syversen (Freshman) had 12 kills and 18 digs. Audrey Krajec (Senior) had eight kills and 10 digs for Millikin. Christina Capuani (Freshman) then led Millikin in digs with 20. Another freshman, Jenna Hilgers, had a team high 30 set assists and 18 digs. Geena Mancuso (Junior) added 16 digs to the score. Alora Goodey (Freshman) then had five kills and three blocks. Emily Heuermann led the Lady Reds from Carthage with 12 kills followed by Bria Hailey with 10. Stefanie Romanowski had seven kills and a team high six blocks. The Big Blue’s Jade Becker and Sara Travis, both seniors, were named to the All-Tournament team. Coming up: Millikin volleyball team hear their fate on the NCAA tournament on Monday at 10 a.m.