DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre volleyball advanced to the Southern Athletic Association championship game for the first time in program history after cruising to a 3-0 victory over the Rhodes Lynx in the tournament semifinal round.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- Centre took advantage of some early Rhodes miscues with a 5-0 run to take an 8-4 lead. From there, the Colonels never trailed, outscoring the Lynx 8-3 down the stretch to take a 25-16 win.
- In the second set,
Syd Bietz delivered the first two kills and Centre never relinquished the lead.
Ally Knueven and
June Padilla kickstarted a 6-0 run to make it a 14-6 game and the Colonels withstood a late Rhodes charge to get the win by a score of 25-18.
- Knowing that Rhodes overcame a 2-0 deficit in the quarterfinal round, the Colonels played well in the early stages of the third set, taking a quick 7-4 lead. The Lynx kept it close, cutting the Centre lead to 16-15 before Centre responded with a huge rally, scoring eight of the next nine with Knueven and
Hollye Tate each recording two kills in the run. Another kill from Knueven slammed the door on a 25-17 win and the sweep for Centre.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Knueven led a balanced Centre scoring effort with a game high ten kills, followed by Bietz and Tate with nine each.
- The Colonels hit .252 for the game while limiting Rhodes to -.019.
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Emily Gardner averaged exactly ten assists per set as she finished with 30, 11 more than Rhodes had as a team.
- Centre held a 63-47 advantage in digs for the match, led by Padilla with a game high 14.
Emersyn Pannell and
Madi Winfield each finished with ten digs.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will play the winner of no. 2 seed Berry versus no. 6 seed Hendrix in Sunday's SAA championship game, which will take place at noon.
