November 9, 2002
(Release courtesy of Paul Misner, SID, Buena Vista University)

STORM LAKE, IOWA . . . Wartburg ended Central's six-year winning streak in the Iowa Conference Volleyball Tournament, as the number two-seeded Knights upended the number one-seeded Dutch in three straight games in the finals. The Knights came out strong from the start and never looked back, winning 30-21, 30-12 and 30-23. In 2001 Wartburg finished second in the tournament and third overall in the IIAC.

Wartburg took an 11-1 lead to start game two and lead by 10 points throughout the game. In game three, Central took an early advantage before Wartburg would rally and go on to cap off a convincing 3-0 win in Storm Lake.

With its Tournament title, Wartburg tied Central for the Conference Championship as the Tournament and regular season each count 50 percent towards the IIAC Championship. The Knights will receive the IIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a result of their higher finish in the Conference Tournament. Final Conference standings are below.

Loras took third place in the tournament, beating Simpson in four games, 24-30, 30-12, 30-20 and 30-25. A year ago the Loras Duhawks placed sixth while Simpson finished third in the tournament and tied for first overall in the conference.

Dubuque swept Coe in three games to take fifth place, beating the Kohawks, 30-24, 30-26 and 30-23. The host Buena Vista Beavers defeated Cornell 3-1 to place seventh overall in the tournament. BV was victorious 27-30, 30-22, 30-24 and 30-24.

Rounding out the placings was Luther, who took ninth in defeating Upper Iowa, 30-21, 30-25 and 30-22.

This rounds out the Iowa Conference volleyball season, with Wartburg moving on to NCAA national tournament play and Central hoping to earn a bid to the tournament.

The final IIAC volleyball standings are:

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