NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but was unable to close out No. 16 nationally-ranked University of Chicago (Ill.) in the crucial third-place match of the 2011 University Athletic Association Championship Tournament on Saturday at the Jerome S. Coles Center. 

The Spartans end the regular season at 22-10 overall and 5-5 in the UAA. The fourth-place finish matches last year's performance, which was the best for Case since 2000. 

The Spartans' fate now lies in the hands of the NCAA Division III selection committee, which is scheduled to announce its tournament field on Monday, November 7 at 11:00 a.m. on NCAA.com. Case earned the program's first-ever bid (at-large) to last year's championship with a fourth-place UAA finish and 24-10 record.

No.3-seeded Chicago (29-5, 7-3 UAA) rallied from two sets down and won by scores of 18-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-15 and 15-11.

Senior middle hitter Tricia McCutchan (Hamilton, Ohio/Stephen T. Badin) was Case's top performer once again with a double-double of 18 kills and 16 digs to go along with nine total blocks (2 solo/7 assists). The two-time Academic All-American finishes the regular season with the CWRU career records for kills (1,917), sets played (495) and blocks (489). 

Senior outside hitter Rachael Suchy (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) just missed her own double-double with 11 kills and nine digs. Junior setter Breana Freeman (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) paced the attack with 34 assists to go along with 10 digs and five block assists on the defensive side. 

Also on defense, junior libero Rachel Gulasey (Cleveland, Ohio/Magnificat) and specialist Olivia Stanton-Ameisen (Bryn Mawr, Pa./The Baldwin School) totaled 19 and 14 digs, respectively.