MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Lawrence University volleyball team saw its hopes of a Midwest Conference Tournament title dashed Friday after an impressive performance by defending league champion Cornell College.
The Rams defeated Lawrence 25-15, 25-15, 25-9 in the tournament semifinals.
League player of the year Diamond Boyd and Nicole Ciari paced Cornell (22-6) with nine kills apiece. The Rams hit .351 for the match and had just eight attack errors.
Freshman Rachel Barthel paced Lawrence (11-16) with seven kills, and Arianna Neumeyer added six kills and 10 digs. Sydney Nelson led Lawrence with 10 assists, and Barthel picked up seven digs and a pair of aces.
Cornell jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the opening set and gradually pulled away. In the second set, Lawrence led 14-13 after a kill by Barthel, but the Rams went on a 12-1 run to finish the set. Cornell raced to a 10-2 lead in the third set and quickly closed out the set and the match.