MATCH LEADERS Kills: Amy Kratochvil (14); Adele Jones (7) Digs: Leslie Flores (8) Assists: Amanda Thomas (30) Kills: Megan Houch (13); Whitney Smith (12); Emilie Walk (12) Digs: Colleen Winter (19); Nicole Hodgman (16) Assists: Kara Liefer (43)

ROCHESTER, Minn. — On Dec. 6, 2003, the Washington (Mo.) University volleyball team won its eighth NCAA Division III national championship.

On Dec. 7, the Bears might as well have painted a big, giant red target on their backs — because as national champs, they were now the hunted, and the rest of the Division III volleyball programs were the hunters.

After surviving all the minefields of the regular season en route to a 28-6 overall record, Washington U. knocked off Calvin, Elmhurst and UW-La Crosse to reach their 12th trip to the NCAA semifinals.

And, if history truly does have a way of repeating itself, the Bears should be in pretty good shape. After all, WU blanked the University of La Verne 3-0 en route to last year's national title — and repeated that effort Friday evening, cruising to a 3-0 (30-25, 30-15, 30-25) win over the Leopards at the Rochester Civic Center Auditorium.

"If this wasn't the best match of the year, it was easily one of the top five — and (in the NCAA semifinals) was the best time to play our best match," said Washington U. coach Rich Lueenemann, whose team won its 11th straight. "We got out and played with a lot of energy. Establishing an early lead boosted our confidence — everyone played well.

The Bears (32-6 overall), winners of 11 straight — all on the road — were in control from the start, leading by as many as nine, 24-15, in the first game. La Verne scored fourth straight to cut the lead to 24-19, but the Bears tallied six of the final nine points to ice the win.

After surrendering the first point in Game 2, the Bears turned up the heat, building leads of 16-9 and 23-11, before scoring four straight to end the match and take a 2-0 advantage. La Verne appeared to have things back on track in Game 3, scoring six of the game's first seven points, but Washington U. stormed back, tying the match three times — 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14 — before taking the lead for good, 16-15 and never looking back.

"Going in, I didn't know how much the payback would come into play," continued Luenemann, referring to the Bears' semifinal win over La Verne a year ago. "When they got up early in that third game, they stole our momentum, but we grabbed it right back. That's the mark of a great team — when a team like La Verne steals the momentum and we take it right back."

Megan Houch led a trio of Bears in double figures with 13 kills, while also hitting .346 and collecting four blocks. Emilie Walk and Whitney Smith each chipped in 12 kills, with Kara Liefer adding 43 assists, while Colleen Winter finished with 19 digs.

"We needed to come out with more intensity:" said La Verne's Amy Kratochvil, who finished with a team-leading 14 kills. "We don't want to go out with a loss — we want to go out with a win. It didn't happen (against WU), so we're knocking on wood it'll happen tomorrow (in the third-place match)."