WAUKESHA, Wis. - Kylie Mueller finished with authority.
Mueller, a 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter from Fox Lake, Ill., registered a career-high 18 kills, 11 digs and three blocks to lead the Carroll University women's volleyball team to a 23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-14 victory over Augustana College in a College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin dual meet at Van Male Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.
It was the ninth four-set victory of the season for Carroll, which claimed a second consecutive win on its home court to improve to 4-2 in the highly contested conference standings and 17-9 overall. 
The emotional, resilient performance took on added significance as it clinched a prestigious CCIW Tournament berth with two league duals remaining.
Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage are currently tied for first (7-0), Carroll maintains sole possession of third (4-2), Millikin is fourth (4-3), followed by fifth-place Augustana (4-4) and sixth-place North Park (2-3).
The postseason tournament was expanded to a six-team field for 2018-19.
Mueller was a force in the pivotal, momentum-shifting third set, recording eight kills to provide an impressive spark - highlighted by a powerful right-handed cross-court spike from the left side to extend the lead to 16-8.
"It was one of the best nights of my collegiate career," said a smiling Mueller, of the memorable night. "With the conference tournament coming up and a few important CCIW matches left, I just wanted to go full blast out there and make the most of each opportunity. When the ball came my way, I knew what needed to be done and just attempted to finish it. 
"After dropping the first set of the match, we didn't hang our heads, bounced back strong and did what we needed to do the rest of the way. During the third set, everything kept flowing and it really seemed to trigger us. That's when we took the mentality that it couldn't go to a fifth set, played with a great sense of urgency and did everything possible to end it. We realize every conference dual is going to be difficult from here on out and we need to close the regular season out on a strong note. Looking back, it was a good team effort and everything clicked today. None of the individual success would have been possible without all of the passes and sets from my teammates. Everyone worked hard to make it happen and that's when everything seemed to come together. This type of effort will only help our confidence and act as a good motivator in the duals to come. It was just a special night."
Senior outside hitter Josie Wierzal (Frankfort, Ill.) followed with nine kills for the Pioneers, who generated 54 kills with a .275 hitting percentage, 10 blocks, seven service aces and committed only 15 errors in the showdown. Senior middle blocker Karley Wolf (Roselle, Ill.) registered seven kills with five blocks and junior middle blocker Erika Dunnam (Shawano, Wis.) had seven kills and two blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Noonan (Crystal Lake, Ill.) chipped in five blocks while senior defensive specialist Amanda Hahn (Itasca, Ill.) had 15 digs, seven assists and two aces. Junior outside hitter Sydney Wilkins (Portage, Ind.) collected 14 digs, junior setter Jennilyn Joy Cave (Bolingbrook, Ill.) had 18 assists and junior setter Emma Przeslicke (Evergreen Park, Ill.) added a team-best 23 assists.
Carroll head coach Becca Saal was proud of how her team reacted to the big-meet pressure, maintained its composure and responded with a critical home-court victory.
Carroll was consistent down the stretch, delivering 15 kills with a .293 hitting percentage and only three errors in the crucial third set. The Pioneers then seized the momentum by finishing with 13 kills on a .370 hitting percentage and three errors in the decisive fourth set.
"This victory should put us in a really good position to earn a berth in the CCIW Tournament," said Saal, whose team improved to 7-1 on its home court. "We struggled a little bit coming out in the first set and had to figure out what was going to work the best offensively. When we were able to get back on track, Augustana didn't really make any changes so it was just a matter of sticking with what was working, serving tough and riding it out the rest of the way (referring to the balanced attack created by the steady efforts of Mueller, Wierzal and Wolf). 
"Volleyball is a game of momentum so we really attempted to focus on each point, not look beyond that and play up to our potential each step of the way. That ability to stay consistent and maintain it ended up playing a big role in our success."
Senior outside hitter Emily Uglem recorded nine kills and junior middle hitter Grace Bialobok had eight kills for Augustana, which lost its second straight to drop to 4-4 in conference and 14-13 overall. The Vikings finished with 38 kills on a .048 hitting percentage and committed 31 errors.