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ST. PAUL, Minn. – Meg Weathersby (Maitland, Fla./Orangewood Christian School) recorded a match-high 15 kills and added 12 digs and five blocks to lead Flagler College to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-15) win over Dowling College of Oakdale, N.Y., in the first quarterfinal of the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championships Thursday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.

Flagler advances to the national semifinals against the winner of the California (Pa.)-West Texas A&M match. The semifinal match is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central.

Flagler improved its record to 36-8 and won its 29th match in a row, which ties a Peach Belt Conference record. The Saints are also the first volleyball team ever from the Peach Belt to win a set in the national quarterfinals and Flagler is the first team from the league to reach the national semifinals. Dowling ends its season at 29-7.

Weathersby hit an astonishing .600 for the match as she had 25 errorless swings. AVCA Honorable Mention All-America Katie Beale (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) also recorded a double-double, her team-leading 22nd of the season, with 13 kills and 11 digs. She hit .333 for the match with just three errors on 30 swings. Justine Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla./Winthrop U.) added eight kills and seven digs for the Saints. Casey Gnann (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River HS) collected nine digs while Olivia Snipes (Easley, S.C./Easley HS) tallied 21 assists while Rebecca Royal (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Fleming Island HS) chipped in with 15 assists and four blocks.

Beale also broke the school's single-season digs record. She currently has 499 digs. Beale passed Sarah Spraggins who held the previous mark with 494 set in 2006.

Flagler hit .333 (44 kills and eight errors on 108 swings) for the match.

Patrycia Klekota led the Golden Lions with eight kills. AVCA third-team All-America Maja Potpara recorded seven kills, 17 assists and 13 digs. Erin Przybylowicz tallied 15 assists and seven digs coming off the bench.

Flagler raced out to a quick 5-1 lead and held on midway through as Dowling rallied to cut the deficit to 14-12. The Saints scored the next three points on kills by Burkhardt and Weathersby and closed it with an attack error on the Golden Lions. Flagler hit .310 (11-2-29) for the set.
In the second set, Flagler broke open a 9-all tie by going on a 5-0 run. Dowling was responsible for three of the points with errors and Weathersby accounted for the other two on kills.

In the final set, Flagler held a 9-7 lead before going on a 7-2 run to put the match away. Beale and Weathersby both recorded two kills in the run. The Saints hit .450 with 20 kills and only two errors on 40 swings.


Flagler def. Dowling College 25-15,25-16,25-15

Flagler (36-8) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Weathersby, Meg 15-0-5; Beale,
Katie 13-0-0; Burkhardt, Justine 8-0-1; Stacy, Rachel 7-2-3; Royal,
Rebecca 1-0-4; Hendrian, Becky 0-2-2; Totals 44-4-8.0. (Assists) -
Snipes, Olivia 21; Royal, Rebecca 15. (Dig leaders) - Weathersby, Meg
12; Beale, Katie 11; Gnann, Casey 9

Dowling College (29-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Klekotka, Patrycja 8-1-1;
Potpara, Maja 7-0-0; Kasperek, Monika 6-0-2; Scott, Kelly 5-0-1;
Giles, Janae 3-0-1; Van Wieren, Jessica 2-0-0; Shepard, Bethany 2-0-0;
Przybylowicz, Erin 0-1-0; Totals 33-2-3.0. (Assists) - Potpara, Maja
17; Przybylowicz, Erin 15. (Dig leaders) - Potpara, Maja 13;
Przybylowicz, Erin 7

Site: St. Paul, Minn. (Gangelhoff Center)
Date: Dec 03, 2009 Attend: 175 Time: 1:07
Referees: Michele Furlong, Brad Aaberg
Flagler College advances to its first NCAA
Championship semifinal match.

DOWLING COLLEGE QUOTES:
Head Coach Alex Koszalka:
Opening Statement: “I'd like to congratulate Flagler for coming in and playing really well. Good luck in the next round. Not exactly the position you want to be in up here and speaking after you've lost, but I'm still proud of what we were able to accomplish this year."

On struggling offense: "I felt that we were passing well in the first set. We didn't execute. I don't even want to say we were tentative as far as swinging, we were just making some mistakes. At the beginning of the second set we settled in a little bit and starting making some plays but we got caught making unforced errors. Unforced errors will always kill you.

On Flagler: "They passed very well and stayed in system. We could not put enough pressure on them with our serve. They were able to run a faster tempo offense to the outside and gave themselves more opportunities. They didn't stumble anywhere and played very well and consistent. My hat is off to them, they played very well."

On adjustments heading into the third set: "We moved a few people around. We had some freshman playing some key positions out there. I think they showed some of their inexperience. I think by then it was probably a little bit too late.

Senior outside hitter Patrycja Klekotka
On communication on the defensive side of the net: “I can't really talk about the defense because I'm not really playing too much defense. I'm just trying to help my teammates (freshman) and give them some directions. I was just telling them to keep playing the game and to not give up."

Senior outside hitter Kelly Scott
On Flagler's blocking game: "I think we made their blockers look good. Nothing to take away from them, they were a good team. We didn't execute when we should have. Its hard to take when you didn't take advantage of what they were giving us."

FLAGLER COLLEGE QUOTES:
Head Coach Taylor Mott:
Opening statement: "I couldn't be more pleased with the way we played today. Our defense was great and our blockers and hitters all did well."

On her team's ability to stay in system: "We passed really well today. We feel pretty confident that if we can get the first pass up we have good setters and our hitters terminated."

On hitters adjusting to Dowling's blocking game: "We were relying on our outside hitters, they did a nice job blocking, fortunately we were able to overcome their blocking with better passing. We really had to rely on our outside hitters in this match. We had a few players step up and have big games which was great for us."

Senior outside hitter Katie Beale:
On playing care-free and having fun: "We always play that way. We're having fun and enjoying the moment. When we play with that attitude we can go up there and take our swings."

On making it to the semifinals: "It's a great accomplishment for us, especially in my senior year. We've really excited to be here."

On playing the first game of the quarterfinals: "I think it's an advantage that we don't have to sit around all day and stress about our first match. It's nice to get it out of the way. Our girls aren't used to this cold weather and now we've got loose and adjusted and can enjoy our rest today."

On potential semifinal opponent: "Our mentality with this group is that it doesn't matter what's going on on the other side of the net. We don't study charts or watch much film on our opponents. Our concern is focusing on what we have to do and making sure we execute."

Junior middle blocker Meg Weathersby:
On her 15 kills and no errors: "Our setters did a great job of using our middles a lot and that opened up the outside for us. They couldn't slide their middle over and we got a lot of one-on-one blocks outside."

On their approach: "Our setters did a great job of using our middles a lot and that opened up the outside for us. They couldn't slide their middle over and we got a lot of one-on-one blocks outside."