WEBSTER GROVES - The No. 14 Webster volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament after a 25-12, 25-23, 25-23 sweep of Blackburn in the quarterfinal round of the SLIAC Tournament at Grant Gymnasium. The Gorloks (11-3) advanced to face 21st-ranked and No. 2 seeded Westminster on Wednesday, March 31.

Saturday's win, which improved the Gorloks to 34-14 all-time in the tournament, was keyed by the big offensive afternoon from sophomore outside hitter Lauren Borik (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) as she recorded 20 kills and hit .429, including putting down 11 kills and hitting .733 in the third and deciding set. In addition to Borik, freshman right side hitter Alexis Wolf (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) added 13 kills and hit .385. 

As a team, Webster hit .268 for the match as they recorded 50 kills and had just 13 errors on 138 swings. 

Along with a strong offense, the Gorloks also had seven service aces, including three from junior middle hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West). 

Defensively, Webster limited Blackburn (5-9) to a .188 attack percentage as they had 33 kills and 11 errors on 117 swings, including the Beavers under .100 in the first set and under .200 in the second set. 

Junior libero Kyra Gensel (Clarkton, N.C./Harrells Christian) and sophomore defensive specialist Tori Cichelero (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline) each had 14 digs, while junior setter/right side hitter Ali Spohr (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) and Borik each had eight digs as Webster outdug the Beavers, 58-52.

Both teams recorded three team blocks in the match as Borik and sophomore middle hitter Julia Frey (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) each had two block assists. 

Spohr also finished the match with a career-high 27 assists, while freshman setter Delaney Demman (Omaha, Neb./Central) added nine assists and six digs. 

Kaitlyn Wiegand led Blackburn with 11 kills and hit .259, while Amanda Swedberg finished with 14 digs and Autumn Wilson had a double-double of 20 assists and 13 digs in the loss. The Beavers will now host seventh-seeded Iowa Wesleyan in a consolation round match on Tuesday.

Webster and Westminster will meet the second time in a week this coming Wednesday in the semifinal round of the SLIAC Tournament in Fulton, Mo. The No. 2 seeded Blue Jays, who are the defending SLIAC Tournament champions, advanced to the semifinals following its three-set home sweep Saturday over Iowa Wesleyan. 

Set 1: Webster scored the first three points and led by as much as nine points early in the set at 13-4. After the Beavers scored two straight points to drop WU's lead to 13-6, the Gorloks would respond with a 6-3 run capped by a kill from Wolf to push in front 19-9. A kill by Blackburn's Elizabeth Bowyer pushed Blackburn within nine at 19-10, Webster would score six of the final eight points, including sealing the 25-12 win with a kill from Borik. In the opening set, Webster hit .316 with 15 kills, including a combined nine from Wolf and Borik, while Blackburn hit .062. 

Set 2:  In the early going of the second set, neither team could get much of an advantage until the Gorloks used an 8-4 to turn a 5-4 lead into a 13-8 advantage. The Beavers, though, would respond with a 10-5 run to take a 19-18 lead. Blackburn's run was keyed by five Gorlok errors. Following Blackburn's run, the Gorloks would score four straight points to retake the lead at 22-18. The Beaver would then score four of the next six points to pull within 24-23. Borik, though, would cap Webster's 25-23 set win with a kill. In the set, Webster hit .231 and got a combined 11 kills from Wolf and Borik, while Blackburn hit .192 with 15 kills. 

Set 3: Webster opened the set on a 5-1 run and led 7-4 when Blackburn used a 5-2 scoring run to tie the set at 9-all. The tie would be one of seven in the set. Following the tie, Webster would score four of the next six points to take a 13-11 lead. The Beavers wouldn't go away, though as they responded with a 7-3 run capped by an attack error from Wolf to take an 18-16 lead. Webster would answer right back as they put down six straight kills, including capping the flurry with three consecutive kills from Borik to take a 22-18 lead. Blackburn attempted one more comeback as they scored five of the next seven points to cut Webster's lead to 24-23. Spohr, though, would cap the 25-23 set win and the sweep with a kill. Borik had 11 of Webster's 19 kills in the final set as the Gorloks hit .271. Blackburn hit .303 in the set as they had 12 kills on 33 attacks and two errors.