Spartans Remain Undefeated in NAC with Thrilling Comeback

AURORA, Ill. October 21, 2006 - The Aurora University women’s volleyball team finished the Northern Athletics Conference regular season schedule Saturday afternoon by defeating the Rockford College Regents in thrilling fashion 3-2 (28-30, 30-27, 29-31, 30-24, 15-11).

The victory gave the Spartans an undefeated NAC season, with a conference record of 11-0 in the newly formed Northern Athletics Conference.

The first three games went back and forth between the two squads with Rockford taking game one 30-28. Aurora then came back to take game two by a 30-27 final with game three going back to Rockford 31-29.

With their backs to the wall, the Spartans came back to win Game four 30–24 and then won the decisive game five 15-11.

In the fifth game, Rockford jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead on the host Spartans and looked to end AU’s hopes of an undefeated conference record. The Rockford lead grew to 8-3 at the rotation and that’s when AU began its comeback.

Freshmen, setter Christie Ozlanski and libero Sara Stark led the charge. Ozlanski served three points and cut the lead to 8-7 and with Rockford leading 10-9, Stark stepped to the service line. Stark would serve four points and all but lock up the undefeated conference season for AU.

The Spartans were led by seniors Sarah Campbell (29 kills, 22 digs), and Lindsey Gruber (19 kills, 20 digs). Also playing well for the Spartans were four freshmen, Amanda Hills (30 assists), Ozlanski (37 assists), Jill Smart (15 kills) and Stark (23 digs).

With the win, AU improves to 16-11 overall and 11-0 in the NAC, while Rockford drops to 6-21 overall and 5-5 in the NAC.