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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology earned the second NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament bid in program history with a four-set victory over Transylvania University in the championship game of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament on Sunday at Transylvania.
Rose-Hulman heads back to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2011 under the direction of first-year head coach Rachel Sellari. The second-seeded Fightin' Engineers earned the tightly contested victory by a 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17 margin over top-seeded Transylvania.
Katryna Dahlberg was named the HCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the team in digs for the second consecutive match. Dahlberg had 37 digs in the victory, along with two service aces.
Marissa Gollnick and Bailey MacInnis joined Dahlberg on the all-HCAC Tournament Team. Gollnick recorded a triple-double with 12 kills, 14 digs and 24 assists, along with two block assists. MacInnis had a team-high in kills for the second straight day, recording 16 along with six digs and four block assists.
Adekite Oladipupo was the third Fightin' Engineer with double-figure kills in the championship match, smashing 13 kills with five total blocks. Maria Bruner provided depth to the front line with eight kills and a team-high seven block assists. Mia Styczynski added six total blocks and five kills.
Katie Orbeta led the team with 32 assists, along with nine digs and five kills. Grace Beach added four kills and Gabrielle Gilbertson added six digs to provide additional statistical support.
The volleyball program becomes just the third women's team in Rose-Hulman history to qualify for the NCAA Division III Tournament multiple times. Both the basketball (2017, '18) and tennis (2011, '17) teams have earned multiple NCAA Division III Tournament bids.
Rose-Hulman reached the HCAC Tournament Championship Game for the second consecutive year, but avenged a 2017 loss at Hanover College to punch its NCAA Tournament ticket. The Fightin' Engineers will learn their NCAA Division III Tournament destination and first round opponent on Monday at 12:30 pm on a video selection show available at ncaa.com.
