Steven Evans, Campus Carrier Sports Editor
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| Will Miller, staff photojournalist The Lady Vikings team defeated Hendrix College to win their second consecutive SAA championship. |
For the second year in the existence of the SAA, the Lady Vikings entered the SAA Volleyball Championships as regular season conference champions and finished the tournament as SAA champions.
By defeating the Hendrix College Lady Warriors on Sunday 3-2, The Lady Vikings Volleyball team won their second straight Southern Athletic Association (SAA) championship.
“It is incredible for this team to have accomplished a ‘two-peat,’” senior setter Stephanie Quinn said. “The best part about it is getting to share it with the majority of the same girls from last year.”
Quinn led the team with 44 out of the Lady Vikings’ 28 total assists during the championship match. Last season, Quinn was named tournament MVP following a 40-assist game on the Lady Viking’s way to defeating the Millsaps College Majors 3-1 (in the Inaugural SAA Volleyball Championships).
Sophomore middle blocker Katie O’Rourke tallied 15 kills and eight blocks for the Lady Vikings and was named this years’ tournament MVP.
“Katie is a hard worker,” McCathren said. “Every day at practice and in games she is fully engaged. What she really brings to the team, aside from her awesome hitting ability, is her energy. And with the energy she brings some of the best hitting ability on the team.”
Freshman outside hitter Mary-Michael McCathren said one of the team’s main focuses for this season was to improve daily, regardless of the outcome of the games.
“Even though we won last year, and we added two freshmen, myself included, and we can always still get better,” McCathren said. “Our goal was not necessarily to win it all, but winning the tournament this year is just a result of us getting better every day.”
Because the Lady Vikings finished the season at the top of the SAA with a 13-1 conference record and a 25-7 overall record, the Lady Vikings were able to host the SAA Volleyball Championships at home for the second-straight year. This year’s crowd included more than 750 attendees.
“The hype that our fans were creating for us was unreal,” Quinn said. “We could not be more thankful for how loud and supportive everyone has been at our games this year. It was really special being able to look at my teammates Sunday and see how bad they wanted the win and knowing that we were all going to work hard to get it.”
Following the tournament, the Lady Vikings remained unbeaten at home, holding a 13-0 record at the Cage Athletic Center.
Sophomore outside hitter Emily Stromberg and junior outside hitter Anna Keappler each added 10 kills to help the Lady Vikings to victory.
With the win, the Lady Vikings qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships. The team was unable to compete in the NCAA tournament last season because they still had probationary status as an NCAA Division-III team, meaning they were too new to the division to compete for a national championship.
“We have much different goals for our team this year as compared last year,” sophomore libero Stephanie Steele said. “Last season our goal was to win the conference tournament as to this year we’re were determined to play consistently on the road to be able to make the NCAA tournament. It’s great to know that each year we are able to set our goals for ourselves higher and higher.”
The Lady Vikings will return to the court on Friday at 5:30 p.m. where they will face the Washington & Lee University Lady Generals (28-6) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships.
“Going into [the tournament] isn’t something that we’ve been allowed to experience until this season,” Quinn said. “So, it is a unique opportunity to be able to represent Berry. This team is capable of doing immeasurably more than people have seen, so I’m excited to really surprise people with our talent and work ethic. Whatever happens, this has been an incredible year and getting a bid to Regionals just makes it that much more incredible.”
The Lady Vikings were selected out of the 64 teams in NCAA Division-III to compete in the tournament that will take place at Emory University in Atlanta. There will be eight teams competing in the tournament
“To be one of the 64 teams in the nation selected to compete in the NCAA tournament is an honor,” Steele said. “We are all very excited to play this weekend and even more excited to be playing so close to home. We’re working extremely hard to prepare for this weekend and can’t wait to show everyone that we are meant to be one of the last teams standing.”
