La Crosse, Wis. - As the old adage goes, "defense wins championships" and tonight #3 Viterbo's defense helped them get one step closer to a Midwest Collegiate Conference tournament championship as they defeated Iowa Wesleyan College 25-21, 25-18, 25-16. Viterbo advances to the MCC Semifinals on Wednesday night to face #2 Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Viterbo came out firing on all cylinders as they took an early 8-3 lead in the first set. After Iowa Wesleyan cut their deficit to 15-9, Viterbo extended their lead back to 22-13. The Tigers had one more serge in them as they came within two (23-21) before the V-Hawks put them away. The V-Hawks would score the first three points of the second set and would not trail at all. The V-Hawks would extend their lead to as many as nine (22-13) and put the Tigers away. In the third set, the V-Hawks decided to take any doubt out of the contest as they jumped out to a 17-5 lead and would not look back.

Junior Jenna Lau (Eau Claire, Wis.) led a very balanced offensive attack with 10 kills while Katie Flock (Fr. - Sparta, Wis.) and Amy Braaksma (So. - Randolph, Wis.) each had nine kills. But in volleyball it is the defense that helps set up the offense and that is exactly what happened tonight. Senior Heather Harelstad (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) led the way with 16 digs and the V-Hawks finished with a season high 10 assisted blocks including three by Lau and three by Hannah Ripp (Fr. - Merrillan, Wis.). Megan McVey led the way for the Tigers with 10 kills.

With the win, the 2009 V-Hawks become just the second V-Hawk team since 1990 to win 30 games as they are now 30-10 overall. The Tigers finished the season 16-14 overall. It is also just the second time since 1990 that the V-Hawks have gotten out of the first round of the MCC tournament. Wednesday night's match-up with Grand View University will be a heated one as the Vikings defeated the V-Hawks 3-2 in their only match this season.

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