No. 7 Tiger Volleyball is headed to Claremont, California to compete in the NCAA III Volleyball Championships next week. The Tigers will compete against No. 2 Juniata in the quarterfinals.
The Tigers (31-4) marched their way through the Berry regional last weekend. The Tigers defeated Wittenberg in four sets to open the tournament. Then, the Tigers claimed victory over No. 10 Berry in a five-set thriller that featured a 9-4 comeback. Finally, the Tigers upset No. 4 in four sets. The young guns stepped up in the regional, with freshman
Courtney Pope (New Braunfels, Texas / Canyon) collecting 31 total kills. The dynamic middle duo of
Maddie Fate (New York, New York / Croton Harmon) and
Brette Thornton (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall) were dominant again in this tournament. The two middles would amass 54 kills and 14 blocks. Fifth-year setter
Marisa Amarino (Calabasas, California / Notre Dame Prep) would command the offense well with 82 total assists across three games.
Quarterfinal Matchups
1-Seed Wisconsin-Oshkosh vs 8-Seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
4-Seed Hope vs 5-Seed Johns Hopkins
2-Seed Juniata vs 7-Seed Trinity
3-Seed NYU vs 6-Seed Northwestern St. Paul
Preview - Battle For The Belt
The seventh-seeded Tigers will face off against the second-seeded Juniata on November 29th at 4:00 PM.
On the No. 1 Juniata Eagles: The 2022 national champions are 32-0 this season. Of their 101 sets played, the Eagles have only lost 5. The Tigers and Eagles split the season series last year. The Tigers defeated the Eagles early in the season, but the Eagles overcame the Tigers in the national championship match. The Eagles are led by junior middle-hitter Mackenzie Coley. Coley has amassed 337 kills on a .392 hitting percentage. The Eagles have played against Johns Hopkins and CMS, both of which made it to the quarterfinals. The Tigers are 3-2 against Juniata since 2013. Before the loss in the championship, the Tigers had won the previous three matchups against the Eagles.
Key To The Game
Tiger Block: Juniata finished the season ranked fourth nationally in kills per set and they are a heavily offensive team. So it'll be up to the Tiger block to slow them down to give the Tiger offense a chance to put in crucial points. Look for Thornton and Fate, as well as Pope, to have a big impact defensively.
Looking Ahead - Semis
If the Tigers prevail, they will play the winner of NYU and Northwestern St. Paul On November 30th at 7:00 PM
