Heading into the National Christian College South Region Tournament championship match against Chowan University, Southern Wesleyan was a perfect 5-0 in five-set matches. That record was put to the extreme test as the Warriors dropped the first two sets 25-27 and 21-25 before storming back to win the final three sets 25-18, 25-21, and 15-13.
Katelyn Barnes, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led the Warriors with 16 kills, while Jessica Angeli's 15 kills and 22 digs led to her being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Keni Abercrombie, who was named the NCCAA South Region Player of the Year, had 32 digs. The Warriors front line defense also performed extremely well as they had 12 blocks in the match, with Lindsey Torgerson being involved in seven. Four players from Chowan (22-12) had double-digit kills, led by Antoinette McCollough's 22 kills. Melissa Hallum recorded 44 assists while Nicole Shoup tallied 27 digs.
The first set started off well for the Warriors as they jumped out to a 15-12 lead, but the Hawks scored five consecutive points to take a 15-17 lead. The Warriors scored the next two points and after the teams traded the next two points, Chowan scored three straight points to lead 21-18. Following a Southern Wesleyan (19-17) timeout, the Warriors used two kills by Barnes, a kill by Michelle Outlaw, and a Chowan hitting error to take a 22-21 lead. The set stayed extremely close as there were four more ties until back-to-back kills by Chowan gave them the 25-27 set one victory.
The second set was all tied at 6-6 when the Hawks used five straight kills to take an 11-5 lead. SWU was able to shave one point off the lead and with the score at 9-14, SWU scored six of the next seven points to even the score at 15-15. That was the last tie of the set as Chowan used two runs of three consecutive points to take a 17-21 lead and eventually won the second set 21-25.
The Warriors were now faced with a challenge they hadn't been able to overcome all season, earn a victory after falling behind by two sets. Chowan enjoyed a slim 8-9 lead in the early stages of the third set, but the Warriors took control during the next four rotations as they scored four straight points twice and three straight points twice. With the lead at 22-15, the two teams just traded points until the Warriors won 25-18.
What had been a very evenly matched match through three sets stayed that way in the beginning stages of the fourth set. The two teams found themselves tied at 14-14 when the Hawks strung together three straight kills, forcing SWU Head Coach Derek Schmitt to use a timeout. The Warriors responded with three consecutive points of their own thanks to a service and two hitting errors by the Hawks. Chowan won three of the next four points and sat just five points away from winning the match when SWU rattled off four straight points to grab a 22-20 lead. Chowan used a timeout to try and slow down Southern Wesleyan's momentum and it worked briefly as they won the next point. That would be the final point the Hawks would score in the fourth set as a Chowan service error followed by back-to-back kills by Angeli closed out the 25-21 victory for SWU.
As tight as the first four sets had been played, the fifth set proved to be the tightest of the them all. At no time did either team have more than a two point lead. Chowan enjoyed several two point leads, with the last one coming at 10-12, when the Warriors climbed back into the set. A kill by Torgerson and a kill by Barnes evened the score at 12-12 and forced Chowan to use a timeout. The Warriors won the next crucial point on another kill by Barnes. Chowan won the next point on a kill by Adrian Cook. With the score now at 13-13, the more than two hour match would come down to two points. It was important for the Warriors to win the next point and they did just that with the help of a Chowan hitting error. With the entire crowd on their feet, the next point would ended with another hitting error by the Hawks, giving Southern Wesleyan the 15-13 victory.
"Words can't express how proud I am of this group of players," said Schmitt. "When the pressure has been on them the most, they respond with composure and find a way to get it done. In five of the six five-set matches we played this year, we won five of them by two points in the fifth set. We have a lot of experienced players on the floor and it shows when we need to come up with the big points.
With the victory, Southern Wesleyan advances to the NCCAA National Volleyball Tournament for the first time in program history. The tournament is being hosted by Colorado Christian College in Lakewood, Colo. Dates for the tournament are December 4-6. You can follow all of the details of the tournament at the following website: http://www.ccu.edu/athletics/teams/volleyball/NCCAAChampionships.asp.
NCCAA South Region Award Winners
Player of the Year: Keni Abercrombie (Southern Wesleyan)
1st Team All-Region: Keni Abercrombie (Southern Wesleyan), Brittany Erickson (Palm Beach Atlantic), Melissa Hallam (Chowan), Antoinette McCollough (Chowan), Emily Reyerson (Palm Beach Atlantic), Charlotte Swain (North Greenville), Kaitlin Wolfe (Southern Wesleyan)
2nd Team All-Region: Jessica Angeli (Southern Wesleyan), Katelyn Barnes (Southern Wesleyan), Michelle Hayes (Southern Wesleyan), Lata Makisi (Pensacola Christian), Gabrielle McKinley (North Greenville), Heidi Mohler (Pensacola Christian), Desaray Turner (Chowan)
Scholar-Athlete Team: Heidi Cramer (Pensacola Christian), Beth Demund (Palm Beach Atlantic), Chrissy Gulden (Palm Beach Atlantic), Gabrielle McKinley (North Greenville), Heidi Mohler (Pensacola Christian)
All-Tournament Team: Jessica Angeli (Southern Wesleyan), Katelyn Barnes (Southern Wesleyan), Melissa Hallum (Chowan), Lata Makisi (Pensacola Christian), Antoinette McCollough (Chowan), Heidi Mohler (Pensacola Christian)
Tournament Most Outstanding Player: Jessica Angeli (Southern Wesleyan)
Coach of the Year: Derek Schmitt (Southern Wesleyan)
