MOUNT BERRY, Ga. -- Eight teams entered Thurs. with hopes of winning the Southern States Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship. After six intense matches at Berry's Steven J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center, that number has been reduced to just four. No. 1-seed Berry, No. 2-seed Lee, No. 3-seed Shorter and No. 6-seed Faulkner are the only teams remaining in the double-elimination tournament at day's end.
On Fri. the winner's bracket will feature an early meeting between the top-two tournament seeds. Both Berry and Lee have yet to lose a set in the tournament and will meet at 1 p.m. It is a matchup of the top two teams in the conference's regular season standings. Shorter and Faulkner will meet in an elimination match tomorrow at 3 p.m. and the winner of that match earns the right to face the loser of the Lee vs Berry match at 5 p.m. on Fri. with a place in the conference finals on the line.
No. 2 Lee Beats No. 3 Shorter (3-0: 25-12, 25-4, 25-23)
The second-seed Lee Lady Flames downed the No. 3-seed Shorter Hawks 3-0 in the first match on day-two of the SSAC Volleyball Tournament. The Lady Flames (27-9) advanced to the final four of the tournament on Fri. and will meet No. 1-seed Berry in the winner's bracket on Fri. at app..
Shorter fell to 17-17 with the loss and was relegated to the second-chance bracket.
The Lady Flames dominated for most of the match and cruised to the straight-set win. Lee's serving was a key component of the comprehensive win, as the Lady Flames served up nine aces in the match, led by Milica Krsmanovic's three aces.
The Flames took control of the match in the second set with a 14-point run on the serve of Tina Questel. The senior from Hawaii came to the service line with the set tied 2-2 and left the line with a 16-2 lead for the Lady Flames. When the serve came back to Lee it was Milica Krsmanovic that served the team to within three points of the win with a five-point service run of her own.
Milica Krsmanovic led all players with 12 kills in the match and had a double-double with 17 assists. Christeena Bertinetti had 10 digs to lead the Lady Flames defense, which limited Shorter to just a .025 hitting percentage for the match. The Flames also posted five total blocks, led by Vedrana Krsmanovic who had five block assists.
Kasi Runion led the way for Shorter with seven kills and four total blocks, including one solo block. Kristy Walker had 16 assists for Shorter, while Kayla Rollins finished with 15 digs.
No. 4 Reinhardt Beats No. 8 Brewton Parker (3-2: 17-25, 25-21, 15-25, 27-25, 15-13)
Reinhardt got 24 kills from Kathy Thornton and 22 kills from Sami Lane to earn a five-set win in the first elimination match of day-two of the SSAC Volleyball Tournament. The Lady Eagles overcame two match points in the fourth set and overcame a 13-11 deficit to score the final four points of the match in a 15-13 win in the fifth set.
Megan Pedersen had 51 assists for the Lady Eagles in the match. Kristen Cook posted 26 digs, while Pedersen and Cathy Thornton added 21 digs each for the winning team as the Eagles gutted out the tough win. Michelle Tessina also had 12 kills in the match
Sheena Brown led the Lady Barons with 27 kills, 29 digs and three service aces in the match. Bobbi Boyer also had a good performance with 41 assists and 21 digs. Sara Kessenic had five total blocks (two solo) to help BPC to nine blocks in the match. Brewton-Parker finished 0-2 in the tournament as the No. 8-seed.
BPC finishes the season 16-22 and was 3-13 in the SSAC.
No. 6 Faulkner Beats No. 7 Columbia (3-1:25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 25-13)
In the second elimination match of the afternoon, Faulkner sent Columbia packing, as the Lady Eagles downed the Fighting Koalas 3-1 behind a superb blocking effort. The win sent Faulkner into second round of the second-chance bracket, while the 0-2 Koalas tournament run was finished for this year.
Jessika Robinson posted eight blocks in the match, including three solo blocks to lead the Faulkner blocking effort, which finished with 15 total blocks. Robinson and teammate Holly Hutcheson both finished with a match-high of 12 kills. Hutcheson also had a complete match with four block assists and 18 digs. Samantha Talley also chipped in with six block assists.
Kari Wiggins had 22 digs for Faulkner. Shaleen Knight added a double-double effort of 21 assists and 15 digs for the match.
Columbia was led by Lauren Bach's 12 kills. Brittany Strickland also had a strong match with 25 digs. The Fighting Koalas posted a great fight-back in the second and third sets, based on the strength of the serving by Jennamarie Lesky and Danielle Gutierrez., as both players finished the match with three aces. Liz Richardson also gave CU 26 assists and 11 digs in the match.
Columbia finishes the season 16-20 and was 4-12 in the SSAC.
No. 1 Berry Beats No. 5 Southern Wesleyan (3-0:25-23, 26-24, 25-23)
The fifth-seeded Southern Wesleyan team pushed the No. 1-seed Berry on Wed., but eventually fell by two points in each set of a straight-set Berry win. With the win, the Lady Vikings (23-11) advance with a perfect 2-0 record in the winner's bracket of the SSAC Tournament. The No.1-seed will meet second-seed Lee in a battle of tournament unbeatens at 1 p.m. on Fri. in The Cage Center.
The loss dropped Southern Wesleyan to the second-chance bracket for a match later in the day.
Taylor Minor and Meghan Francis finished with a match-high total of 11 kills each in the match. Minor is leading the SSAC Tournament with a .390 hitting percentage after two matches and also added three blocks against the Lady Warriors. Grace Brannon and Stephanie Post, both added nine kills for the Lady Vikings, which hit .201 for the match.
Ashley Weider orchestrated the Berry offense and finished with 22 assists and 10 digs. SSAC Libero of the Year, Shawn Carroll posted a match-high 21 digs for the Lady Vikings.
The Lady Warriors took advantage of 22 attack errors and 11 service errors by the Vikings to stay close in all three sets. Kaitlin Wolfe also had a strong effort with a team-best seven kills, 17 assists, nine digs and two service aces. Jessica Angeli and Kendra Abercrombie both finished with 12 digs in the match for Southern Wesleyan.
No. 3 Shorter Beats No. 4 Reinhardt (3-2: 25-27, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13)
Reinhardt ended a marathon week with a 3-2 loss to Shorter in an elimination match on Wed. evening. The Lady Eagles fell 3-2 in the team's third, consecutive five-set match of the tournament. Shorter (18-17) advances to the final four of the SSAC Tournament to play an elimination game against No. 6-seed Faulkner
The Lady Hawks got 20 kills from Ashley Walton and 19 kills out of Kasi Runion to out-last the gutsy Lady Eagles. Kayla Rollins also had 25 digs and was a key player in sparking Shorter down the stretch of the second and third sets. Kristy Walker also did a good job of leading the Hawks' offense with 57 assists in the match.
The Reinhardt defense dug the ball 90 times in the match led by Meagan Pedersen and Sami Lane, who both finished with 18 digs. Pedersen also had 49 assists in the match, while Lane had 18 kills. Kathy Thornton led the Eagles with 19 kills and Michelle Tesina added 15 kills.
Reinhardt finishes the season 19-14 and was 9-7 in the SSAC.
No. 6 Faulkner Beats No. 5 Southern Wesleyan (3-0: 25-21, 25-18, 25-16)
Neysa Hernandez had 16 kills to lead Faulkner in a straight-sets win over Southern Wesleyan in the final match of day-two at the SSAC Volleyball Tournament. With the win Faulkner (18-17) advances to play No. 3-seed Shorter in an elimination match on Fri. at 3 p.m.
Faulkner continued to block the ball well, posting 11 blocks in the match for a total of 26 in the two matches on the day. Jessika Robinson continued to lead the way for the Lady Eagles with eight total blocks, which included one solo block. She finished the afternoon with 16 total blocks.
Kimber Holt also had 10 kills in the sweep over Southern Wesleyan. Shaleen Knight's 19 assists led Faulkner. Holley Hutcheson also posted 15 digs. The Eagles finished the night with a .259 hitting percentage.
Jessica Angeli led Southern Wesleyan with nine kills, as the Lady Warriors hit just .085 for the match. Angeli also had a match-best 17 digs. Kaitlin Wolfe had 13 assists, while Heather Craker finished with 12 assists.
Southern Wesleyan finishes the season 18-7 and finished the year 9-7 in the SSAC.
Looking Ahead
Berry vs Lee, 1 p.m. - Berry won the SSAC regular season championship this year, unseating a Lee team that had taken the honor for the past four seasons, ever since the team's joined the SSAC from the TranSouth Conference. Berry swept the season series against the Lady Flames, winning 3-1 in The Cage Center, then beating the Lady Flames 3-2 at Lee. Last year Lee eliminated Berry from the SSAC Tournament.
Shorter vs Faulkner, 3 p.m.- The Lady Hawks are the defending SSAC Tournament Champions. This is a rematch from the first round of the tournament, a match the Hawks won 3-0. The two teams split a pair of regular-season meetings. Faulkner won 3-1 in Montgomery, Ala., while Shorter took the return leg, 3-2 in Rome, Ga.
Winner of Shorter/Faulkner vs Loser of Berry/Lee, 5 p.m.- The winner of the Berry vs Lee match advances to the finals of the SSAC Tournament and will have to lose twice on Sat. to be eliminated from the tournament. The losing team will face the winner of the Shorter vs Faulkner match at 5 p.m. on Fri. the winner of that match will advance to the finals and need to win twice Sat. to earn the SSAC Title.
This year the SSAC Title carries the added bonus of an automatic qualification to the NAIA National Tournament. Last season no SSAC teams advanced to the NAIA National Tournament.
