Ravens Volleyball battled to a classic win at home Tuesday night in the Heart Women's Volleyball Championship Semifinals.
The No. 2 seed Ravens defeated the No. 3 seed Park University Pirates, 3-2, in five sets.
The deciding fifth set was a microcosm of the entire match, as both teams battled to the end only to see the Ravens come out on top. The Ravens took an 8-7 lead as the teams swapped sides of the court, then went up 11-8 to force a Pirates timeout. Park scored the next 2 points, leading to a Ravens timeout and that's when the home team locked in. The Ravens outscored the Pirates 4-1 to close out a 15-11 set win and earn a trip to the Heart of America Championship match.
Mahala Sewell had a team-high 18 kills for the Ravens, followed by Regan Bruggeman's 13 kills, 11 from Winny Harris, and 10 kills from Hokulani Sagapolu. Haley Cahill had 52 assists and 11 digs.
Evelyn Arreola was strong defensively, recording 30 digs, Sagapolu added 21, and Cate Milroy finished with 17 digs. The Ravens block was strong as they totaled 24 block assists as a team – Maura Lickteig had 8, Sagapolu had 6, and Harris added 4.
The Ravens put together a complete effort in the opening set, winning 25-17. The Ravens jumped out to a 6-1 lead to force a Pirates timeout, and then Park had to take another timeout when the Ravens took a 12-6 lead. Neither timeout slowed down the Ravens as they continued to play from in front, winning by 8 points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Ravens didn't do themselves any favors in the second set, falling behind the Pirates 13-5. However, the Ravens showed grit and battled back, closing the gap to 18-13 and 22-18, then fighting off several set points before the Pirates ultimately took the second set, 28-26, to even the match at 1-1.
The Ravens had a tough hill to climb again in the third set, falling behind 17-9. But once again, the Ravens clawed back to fight off Park's first set-point attempt. But the Pirates scored twice to win the set, 26-24 and take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Facing elimination in the fourth set, the Ravens took a 12-9 lead only to see the Pirates come back and move in front 17-14. As they had all night, though, the Ravens fought back and used an 8-2 run to take the lead back. Park tied the score at 24-24 but the Ravens scored the final 2 points – capped off by a Marissa Mantz ace – to force the decisive fifth set.
With the win, the Ravens (24-7) will host the No. 5 seed MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16 in the Ralph Nolan Gym. The Pioneers knocked off the No. 1 seed Central Methodist University Eagles to give the Ravens the opportunity to host Saturday's championship match. The Ravens and Pioneers split the season series, each team winning at home.
