Everyone was aware of it, even though it certainly was downplayed.
 
For the first time in five years, Ashland University's volleyball team won a Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal – the top-seeded Eagles taking a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-12) decision from Northwood on Tuesday (Nov. 10) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
 
"I think just not talking about it too much to the girls in advance definitely helped," said Ashland head coach Alicia Wood, whose team improves to 22-5 overall and 9-0 at home, and has won five matches in a row. "They knew it had been a good while since we were in this position."
 
Ashland now will play host to the tourney's Final Four. On Friday (Nov. 13), the Eagles will play at 7:30 p.m. in the second semifinal vs. Hillsdale (16-12), and the first semifinal will be at 5 p.m. The championship match will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 14).
 
"We're extremely excited to get the opportunity to host," Wood said. "We put in all the work during the regular season, so I told the girls in advance all we have to do is take it one game at a time, and we get to enjoy everything being hosted by us.
 
"We want to get as many Eagles here as possible, make our gym intimidating, because when this gym is packed, it's a hard environment to play in on the road."
 
The win on Tuesday night also was the first all-time for the Eagles at home in a Great Midwest Tournament match.
 
Junior middle blocker Livi Miller finished the night with the second-highest single-match hitting percentage in program history at .818 (9-for-11), while adding three block assists.
 
Another junior, outside hitter Samantha Young, recorded a team-high 11 kills, and the senior setter tag team of Kylee Urban (23) and Marin Dixon (12) combined for 35 assists.
 
Senior libero Abbey Queen (18), sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Weickert (12) and Young (11) all ended with double-digit digs in the victory.
 
Northwood's season ends at 9-18.