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» Monday, Monday. It’s a free-for-all edition at D3Playbook. Congrats to the national champions at Juniata, Cal Lutheran and St. Olaf.

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TOP STORY
1. Eagles Leave Hotel California With National Title

Wire to wire.

The Juniata women’s volleyball team won its second consecutive Division III national title with a resounding three-set sweep of second-ranked Hope, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21.

The Eagles extended their match winning streak to 62, recording their fourth national championship and the fourth perfect season in DIII history. Only Washington U. (40-0, 1992), Central (41-0, 1999) and Johns Hopkins (35-0, 2019) have run the table in similar fashion.

Juniata is the first team since the 2006 edition of the Blue and Gold to start and finish the season as the No. 1 team in the AVCA rankings.

Mackenzie Foley was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player. 

» Watch the Match Replay

SOCCER (W)
2. Cal Lutheran Captures Crown

Isabella Veljacic scored in the 17th minute and the Cal Lutheran defense made the goal stand as the Regals won their first national women’s soccer title with a 1-0 victory against second-ranked Washington U.

CLU became the first unranked team to win the championship, ousting the top-two ranked teams in the country along the route.

GK Kelsey Slaugh made three saves for the team’s 15th clean sheet of the season.

» Watch the Match Replay

SOCCER (M)
3. Ole, Ole, Ole

St. Olaf won its first national championship with a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory over Amherst in the NCAA Division III men’s soccer final.

After conceding a goal in the 49th minute, the Oles got the equalizer in the 62nd from Hakeem Morgan and the championship-winning goal from Casey McCloskey just 1:08 into extra time.

St. Olaf became the western-most program to win the national crown since Trinity (Texas) in 2003.

» Watch the Match Replay

FOOTBALL
4. Down to Four

While the CFP picked its four teams, Division III played to its final four with North Central, Wartburg, Randolph-Macon and Cortland advancing to the national semifinals.

#1 North Central d. #4 Wisconsin-La Crosse, 55-42. The defending national champs jumped out to a 35-14 halftime lead but needed to survive an onside kick in the final minute to outlast the Eagles. The Cardinals ran for 323 yards on the ground, including 187 from RB Joe Sacco.

#3 Wartburg d. #5 Wisconsin-Whitewater, 31-28. QB Nile McLaughlin tossed a 7-yard scoring pass to RB Hunter Clasen with 0:54 left to lift the Knights past the Warhawks. It was Clasen’s third TD of the game.

#8 Randolph-Macon d. #7 Johns Hopkins, 39-36. PK Kyle Ihle booted a 34-yard field goal with :04 remaining as the Yellow Jackets downed the Blue Jays in Baltimore.

#11 Cortland d. #13 Alma, 58-41. In a game that saw 1,207 yards of total offense, the Red Dragons got five TD passes from QB Zac Boyes to hold off the Scots and reach their first-ever national semifinal.

National Semifinals

#1 North Central at #3 Wartburg, 3:30 ET
#11 Cortland at #8 Randolph-Macon, 12 p.m. ET

NEWS
5. Lightning Round

»🏃‍♀️ Track and Field. Saint Benedict’s Fiona Smith set a Division III indoor record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:50.48 at the Sharon Colyear Season Opener held at Boston University, bettering the old standard of 15:58.

»🤽🏻‍♂️ Water Polo. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps scored three times in the final minutes to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat Redlands, 6-5, for the USA Water Polo Division III national title.

» 🗞 News. Fontbonne University will cut 21 degree programs and dozens of faculty and staff positions by the fall of 2024, the university said in an email. University officials said the cuts were "unavoidable" and caused by a decade-long decline in university enrollment.

STREAMING
6. What We’re Watching Online

🏀 WBB: Bates (6-0) at Bowdoin (5-1), 700
🏀 WBB: Merchant Marine (4-0) at Coast Guard (6-2), 700

TRANSACTIONS
7. Comings and Goings

• BABSON - Daniel Crotty named assistant men’s lacrosse coach

• ELMIRA - Rebecca Streeten named head women’s lacrosse coach

• KEAN - Leslie LaFronz announced her retirement as head field hockey coach

• MEREDITH - Fiona Barkley will step down as head volleyball coach to become associate athletics director

• NORWICH - Mark Murnyack stepped down as head football coach

• SUSQUEHANNA - Allison Fordyce named assistant athletic director. Stephanie Johnson named senior woman administrator

• UNION - Jon Poppe resigned as head football coach

• WISCONSIN-La CROSSE - Sam Korn named head softball coach

• WPI - Emily Mauro named head track and field coach

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