DANVILLE, Ky. – The Centre volleyball competed for the Southern Athletic Association tournament championship for the first time in program history as the top-seeded Colonels battled the no. 2 seed Berry Vikings for the title. The tournament title went to the Vikings, who won in four hard-fought sets.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- The opening set was a wild affair as the Colonels jumped out to the hot start, leading by as many as eight points at 17-9 after a kill from
Mack Turner. The Vikings slowly chipped away at the Centre lead and fought off three set points to tie the score at 24-24. From there,
Syd Bietz put the Colonels back on top with a kill and Centre got the next point to take a 26-24 victory.
- In the second set, Centre held onto a small lead for most of the frame, but it stayed close as Centre could never pull ahead by more than four points. Towards the end of the set, both teams fought off set points before the Vikings finally strung together two in a row to tie the match with a 27-25 win.
- The Colonels had to play from behind for almost the entirety of the third set. Centre rallied to tie the score on several occasions, but could never pull ahead late as the Vikings won 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
- The fourth set played out in similar fashion as the third, with Berry grabbing the early lead and holding off the Colonels. Berry extended the lead as the set went on, leading by as many as nine points at 22-13 and holding off a hard final closing charge from Centre to take the match by a score of 25-21
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Team statistics were evenly matched for both teams in nearly every category except hitting percentage, where Berry held an advantage of .163-.139.
- Bietz led the Colonels with 16 kills, followed by
Ally Knueven with 12 and
Mack Turner with 11. Knueven led all qualified hitters with a percentage of .313.
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Emily Gardner tied for a game high with 46 assists, good for over 11 assists per set.
- Centre held an 84-81 edge in digs, with both teams flying all over the court to keep plays alive.
June Padilla led all players with 30 digs, while Gardner finished with 16 and
Madi Winfield had ten.
NEXT UP
- The Colonels ended the regular season with a 22-6 overall record and the SAA regular season championship. The 2024 NCAA Division III volleyball selection show will take place on Nov. 18.
