SIAC Volleyball Championship Day 3 Recap
SIAC Volleyball Day 3 Recap
Championship Day of the 21st Annual SIAC Volleyball Championship has been a dramatic day of all Eastern division teams vying for the SIAC title. Clark Atlanta gave a valiant attempt but fell short to a rested Albany State team, while Benedict College tried to pull off the upset over the six time defending champions Albany State University. But in the end Albany State took home the SIAC Crown for the 7th Consecutive Time.
#2 E (Clark Atlanta) 3 #1 E (Fort Valley State) 0
The Loser’s Bracket Semi Final contests between the #1 and #2 seed in the East seemed to be a big game that would go down to the wire; however, CAU pulled out a 3-0 victory. Clark Atlanta would take the games 30-23, 30-28 and 30-25. Fort Valley State defeated them selves with Brittany Watkins committing 10 attack errors that could have led to easy points for FVSU. Raven Wynn had a spectacular game with 11 kills, 7 digs and 3 blocks. Leading the way for the Lady Panthers was the always reliable Jennifer Holman who had 12 kills and 7 digs. Krystal McGowan added to the victor with 13 kills. Fort Valley State was eliminated after a great tournament. Clark Atlanta advances to the Loser’s Bracket Championship against Albany State.
#3 E (Albany State) 3 #2 E (Clark Atlanta) 0
With a chance to go to the championship round to face Benedict and continue their quest for yet another SIAC Championship, ASU defeated CAU 3-0. ASU jumped early and never looked back as CAU never had the lead in any game of this series. ASU won 30-26, 30-24, 30-20 behind the play of Rachell Anderson who had 16 kills and 4 digs. Chanel Wilson, setter, added with 42 assists, while Latrice Lewis added with 13 kills and 3 digs. Clark Atlanta received another great performance by Jennifer Holman who had 13 kills and 8 digs. Albany State will once again advances to the SIAC Championship game and will have to defeat the Lady Tigers of Benedict College back to back to win their seventh consecutive title.
#3 E (Albany State) 3 #4 E (Benedict) 2
The Championship game was filled with rallies and an almost new SIAC Champion; HOWEVER, ASU wasn’t giving up the crown that easy as they defeated BC 3-2. Benedict won the first game 30-24 but Albany State bounced back and took the second game 30-22. Coach Rouse of Benedict would rally her troupes and they answered the call of the bell as they took the third game 30-24. With the championship within their grasp the pressure began to mount to win just one more game but ASU would take the wind out of the sails of BC taking the next game 30-20 and the final game 15-11. Melinda Bastian of Benedict had another spectacular game and during game 3 she sealed the victory for BC on 4 straight kills. Bastian had 21 kills in the game and 3 digs. Natasha Gray (BC) also had a stellar game with 19 kills and 4 digs. Albany State’s Latrice Lewis led her team to victory with 17 points and 10 digs. Rachell Anderson and Shawanna Hill both contributed to the victory with 14 kills each and Anderson added 10 digs as well. Since this was Benedict’s 1st loss of the tournament another classic game will have to be played to determine the champion of the tournament.
#3 E (Albany State) 3 #4 E (Benedict) 2
Albany State took home their seventh consecutive SIAC title as they came from the Loser’s Bracket and defeated Benedict in consecutive games. ASU took home the first game 30-25 but Benedict would bounce back and win game #2 30-27. Albany State would bounce back in the next game and win 30-21 before nearly putting the tournament in the forth. In the fourth game ASU was leading 21-16 before Benedict went on a run and defeated ASU 30-25. In the final game all tied at 12-12 ASU would pull out the game 15-13 to take home the championship for the 7th Consecutive time under Coach Robert Skinner. Melinda Bastain of Benedict , stepped up big with 24 kills in the match, 4 digs, and 4 serving aces. Bastain was named the Tournament MVP. Latrice Lewis, Rachell Anderson and Chanel Wilson were all named to the All Tournament team leading their team to their 7th Consecutive SIAC Championship.
Albany State will await their bid for the NCAA Championships forthcoming next week.