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NCAA Championship Bracket
 
The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team used an efficient offense in front of an energetic crowd Thursday night to defeat Greenville (Ill.) 25-21, 25-15, 25-17 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship at Kris Russell Volleyball Arena.
 
The Warhawks (28-6 overall), the top seed in the regional, advance to Friday's second round, where they'll face 18th-ranked and fifth-seeded Elmhurst (Ill.) at 7 p.m. at Russell Arena. Elmhurst downed No. 10 Hope (Mich.) in three sets on Thursday afternoon.
 
Senior outside hitter Lauren Pfeifer (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) and sophomore outside hitter Amanda Spera (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) collected 11 kills apiece to lead the offense. Junior right side hitter Sydney Racky (Walworth, Wis./Big Foot) added nine kills, and junior middle hitter Courtney Wagner (Dekalb, Ill./Dekalb) registered eight kills and matched Pfeifer with a team-best four blocks.
 
Sophomore libero Brittany Robinson (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) posted a team-high 19 digs, and freshman defensive specialist Elizabeth Tworek (Lake Zurich, Ill./Carmel Catholic) chipped in with 10 digs and two service aces.
 
Trailing 19-14 in the first set, UW-Whitewater turned the match by claiming 11 of the final 13 points in the period, including two kills each from Racky and freshman middle hitter Ashton Doll (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster), to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The team scored its final four points on the serve of senior defensive specialist Tessa Weber (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Tremper).
 
The Warhawks carried their momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 9-3 advantage to force a timeout by the Panthers (25-8).
 
After Greenville, the regional's No. 8 seed, rallied to tied the set at 14-14, UW-Whitewater scored 11 of the last 12 points, including six on Wagner's serve, to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
The third set was tied midway through at 13-13 before the Warhawks ran off seven of the next eight points to put the Panthers in a hole.
 
Spera recorded back-to-back kills to close the match and help UW-Whitewater punch its ticket to the second round.
 
In other first round action, No. 3 seed Washington-St. Louis downed sixth-seeded Heidelberg (Ohio) in five sets, and No. 7 seed Bluffton (Ohio) knocked off second-seeded UW-Oshkosh in five.
 
Washington-St. Louis and Bluffton will square off in the regional's opening second round contest Friday at 4:30 p.m.