The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team finished the 2019 season strong as they won seven of their final 10 matches and placed fifth at the UAA Championships. The Spartans finished the year with a 13-16 overall record, while facing a difficult schedule that included 12 matches against ranked teams at the time of play.

CWRU capped off the season with a 7-3 record, including wins against Brandeis University and New York University at the UAA Championships. During those last 10 games, the Spartans won three matches by a 3-0 score. Of their 29 matches in 2019, CWRU won seven of those by a score of 3-0.

The Spartans were paced by junior middle hitter Katie Kaminski, who earned All-UAA Second Team recognition, as well as All-UAA Honorable Mention honoree senior outside hitter Brianna Lemon.

Kaminski finished second on the team with a .305 hitting percentage. She ranked third with 247 kills (2.17 per set) and second with 68 total blocks (including 14 solo). Kaminski also added 247 digs and 21 service aces during the season. Over her career, she has recorded a .316 hitting percentage which currently ranks second in program history.

Lemon finished the regular season with a .145 hitting percentage, and led the team with 297 kills (2.65 per set). She also ranked second on the squad with 381 digs (3.40 per set) and tied for first with senior Faith Ellis in service aces (24). Over her four years as a Spartan, Lemon has totaled 1,183 kills (3.05 per set) and 1,099 digs (2.83 per set). She becomes just the sixth player in the program's history to have reached 1,000 kills and digs in a career. In addition, her 1,183 career kills ranks sixth in the program's history.

In addition, Ellis, senior middle hitter Haley Sims and senior outside hitter Karley King played key roles in the Spartans rotation.

Ellis directed the attack and tallied a team-high 529 assists (4.72 per set). She finished fourth on the team with 239 digs. First-year setter Sara Rogers and junior setter Jordyn Harberts also setup the offense throughout the season, totaling 338 (4.45 per set) and 179 (2.71 per set) assists, respectively.

Sims finished first on the team with a .317 hitting percentage and ranked second on the team with 258 kills (2.26 per set). She also tallied a team-high 97 total blocks, including 18 solo blocks. Over her career, she has gathered 906 kills (2.19 per set) and 388 total blocks (0.94 per set).

King, who was selected to the Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team, finished the year with a .179 hitting percentage, and finished fourth on the team with 207 kills (1.99 per set). She also gathered 69 digs and 44 total blocks throughout the season. Over her four years as a Spartan, King has totaled 996 kills (2.36 per set), 274 digs and 184 total blocks.

Additionally, King joins former Spartan Tricia McCutchan (2009, 2010, 2011) as the program's only other All-America selection in multiple years. King was an Academic All-America Second Team selection last year as well.

At the net, first-year outside hitter Gianna Lambert and first-year outside hitter Meara Reeder averaged 1.29 and 1.14 kills per set, respectively. Lambert finished fifth on the team with 116 kills.

Defensively, junior libero Jana Giaquinto averaged 3.85 digs per set and finished first on the team with 427 digs.

Along with their success on the court, 10 Spartans received All-UAA Academic honors: sophomore Lauren Carmon, junior Marlee Dingle, Ellis, junior Bailey Hagedorn, King, senior Samantha Rodriguez, sophomore Natalie Rothrock, sophomore Maggie Sereika, Sim and junior Krystal Wang. All-Academic recognition is awarded to student-athletes who have completed at least one full year of college study and who carry a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.300.

Head Coach Karen Farrell concluded her 18^th season where she has led the program to fifth-place finishes at the UAA Championships in two of the past three seasons. At the close of the 2019 season, she has tallied 358 career wins with the program.

The Spartans earned the following honors during the 2019 Season

CoSIDA Academic All-America
Karley King	First Team	Clarence, N.Y. / Clarence
All-University Athletic Association
Katie Kaminski	Second Team	Centerville, Ohio / Centerville
Brianna Lemon	Honorable Mention	Mount Dora, Fla. / Mount Dora

2019 Season Leaders

Kills	Brianna Lemon	297
Kills Per Set	Brianna Lemon	2.65
Hitting Percentage	Haley Sims	.317
Assists	Faith Ellis	529
Assists Per Set	Faith Ellis	4.72
Service Aces	Faith Ellis, Brianna Lemon	24
Digs	Jana Giaquinto	427
Digs Per Set	Jana Giaquinto	3.85
Blocks	Haley Sims	97
Points	Brianna Lemon	334.5

 
CWRU in the final NCAA Division III team rankings (out of 426 ranked teams) 

Category	Rank	Total
Assists Per Set	190	10.51
Blocks Per Set	131	1.62
Digs Per Set	93	17.66
Hitting Percentage	106	.194
Kills Per Set	189	11.38
Match W/L Percentage	253	0.448
Opp. Hitting Percentage	285	0.172
Team Assists	132	1,198
Team Attacks Per Set	198	35.25
Team Digs	77	2,013
Team Kills	132	1,297
Team Total Attacks	125	4,019
Team Total Blocks	101	184.5

 
CWRU individual's in final NCAA Division III rankings (top 250 players ranked)

Category	Name	Rank	Total
Hitting Percentage	Haley Sims	86	0.318
Hitting Percentage	Katie Kaminski	109	0.305
Total Blocks	Haley Sims	78	94
Total Digs	Jana Giaquinto	216	427
Total Attacks	Brianna Lemon	149	986