MONTGOMERY, Ala. – (GAME 3, POOL B) No. 2 seed Blue Mountain Christian advanced to the SSAC Championship semifinals in Friday's final game of pool play, defeating No. 7 seed Life University 3-1 (25-14, 25-16, 17-25, 25-17).
The Volley Toppers would get 13 kills from
Olivia Ashton in the victory, while also getting 10 bangers from
Kaytie Rutland.
Blue Mountain's service game was in top form, as they would get five aces from
Jaiyah Jackson, four from
Hailey Oliver and two from
Kora Wilson.
Rutland and
Ambre El Rhaffouli stuffed four blocks apiece and Ashton chipped in two.
Peyton Kidd led in assists with 24 and
Hailey Oliver added 19 in the 6-2 rotation.
Kora Wilson would dig out 17 balls for BMCU, and Jackson and
Kerianna Collins would have 15 digs each in the victory.
The win gave the Volley Toppers their 22
nd of the season, setting up a 5:30 p.m. CT showdown in the semis against No. 1 seed Mobile.
SEMIFINALS
The semis saw the Toppers meet up with the No. 1 seed Mobile Rams in hopes of defending their SSAC Tournament title. Despite a tough effort from Blue Mountain, the Rams would just be too much, and the Toppers bowed out in a 1-3 loss (10-25, 26-18, 26-24-23-25).
Blue Mountain showed resilience throughout the match, finding themselves down five and six points in the mid sets, eventually enough to take the third set.
Rae Ann Hall went out on a high note in her collegiate career, notching 12 kills.
Kaytie Rutland and
Olivia Ashton also finished their careers strong with 11 and nine kills, respectively.
Defensive sparkplug
Jaiyah Jackson also finished her career strong, managing 21 digs.
Ashton and
Sammie Smith would finish with three assisted blocks apiece, while Rutland and
Ambre El Rhaffouli had two assisted each.
Kora Wilson would lead with 25 digs, while
Kerianna Collins had 12 for Blue Mountain.
"Our ladies played extremely hard this season," BMCU head coach
Reid Gann said. "Although we're not where we believe we can be, there are many positive things we can look back on through the year. Getting 20 wins in a season is hard to do, but our ladies did it again. I'm very proud of each one."
BMCU finishes the season 22-8 overall and 9-4 in SSAC play. Six years into its existence, BMCU Volleyball has put together 131 wins under Gann's leadership. It's also the fourth straight season with 20-plus victories for Gann and the Volley Toppers.
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