MILWAUKEE – The Falcons are advancing to the NACC Tournament Semifinals for the first time in program history. CUW upset the No. 3 seed Raiders of MSOE on Tuesday night, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 19-25, 16-14. The victory sends the Falcons to 6-7 on the year.
"This is something that we have seen coming all year," said head coach Curtis Madson. "We knew that we were going to finally break through in one of these matches and we are excited that we did so tonight. This is also a great win for our seniors, it shows them how far that we have come over these past four years and it is something to take pride in. We are thankful that we get to continue to play together as a team and compete again in the semifinals."
The Blue and White came out swinging on Tuesday night and hit .409 in the first set. The Raiders pushed the lead up to 14-9, before the Falcons came storming back behind the serve of sophomore Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.) and tied the set at 16. With the set tied at 23, freshman Spencer Herman (Appleton, Wis.) broke the tie with a kill and the Falcons took the first set, 25-23.
The Raiders held the lead in the second from wire to wire. CUW was able to cut the deficit to 13-12, but the Raiders broke free and won, 25-17.
The Falcons did not flinch and opened the third set with a 4-1 lead. The Raiders kept chipping away at the lead and tied the set at nine. The Blue and White blew open the set with a 12-3 run late in the set and closed the door on the Raiders at 25-16 with a block from senior Matthew Korman (Roscoe, Ill.) and Andy Ellingham.
The third-seeded Raiders did not go quietly into the night and forced a fifth set with a 25-19 victory in the fourth set.
The Raiders applied pressure to CUW early in the fifth set and inched ahead with a 10-6 lead.
The Falcons were down to their last point of the season when the Raiders reached match point at 14-11. The Falcons continued to fight and chip away at the lead, starting with a block from junior James Althoff (Kenosha, Wis.) and a kill from Spencer Herman. Following an MSOE timeout, CUW tied the set with a block from Matthew Korman and senior Blake Schwandt (Kenosha, Wis.). CUW earned a match point with a kill from James Althoff and a ball-handling error for MSOE clinched the upset.
The victory was the second-ever all-time for the Falcons against MSOE and the first-ever postseason victory in program history.
Spencer Herman earned a double-double performance with a match-high 24 kills and 11 digs. James Althoff also reached the double-double plateau with 14 digs and 13 kills.
Matthew Korman dished out 45 assists in the victory.
The Falcons will travel to No. 5 Dominican on Thursday night for the NACC Tournament Semifinals.
