Tiger Volleyball is headed to Illinois Wesleyan to compete in the NCAA DIII Volleyball Championships. The Tigers punched their ticket in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the MIT Regional. The Tigers had a dominant start to the weekend with a 3-set sweep against Manhattanville in the Round of 64. Then, the Tigers charged through with another sweep against Salisbury College to advance to the final versus MIT. This match consisted of some great volleyball and long rallies. The Tigers jumped to a 2 sets-to-none lead, but then dropped the third set in a nailbiter. They took care of business in the fourth and sealed the victory!
All Tournament Team:
Four Tigers were named to the Regional All-Tournament Team.
Reagan Whatley (The Woodlands, TX / The Woodlands) was named Regional MVP after a stellar weekend posting 37 kills, 33 digs, 2 blocks, and 4 aces.
Jozie Dhayer (Houston, Texas / Summer Creek),
Lauren McCarthy (Corrales, N.M. / Horizon), and
Jenna Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) were also named to the team. Jozie had a phenomenal weekend leading the offense with 36 assists, as well as collecting 32 digs and 4 aces. Lauren had an outstanding weekend both offensively and defensively with 19 kills, 4 aces, 16 blocks, and 5 digs on the weekend. Finally, Jenna dominated with 4 aces, 37 digs, and 16 assists.
Quarterfinal Matchups:
1-Seed East Texas Baptist vs 8-Seed Berry
4-Seed La Verne vs 5-Seed Wisconsin- Eau Claire
2-Seed Wisconsin- Oshkosh vs 7-Seed Calvin
3-Seed Colby vs 6-Seed Trinity
Preview-
The 6-Seed Trinity University will take on the 3-Seed Colby on December 3rd at 11:30 CST.
On the No. 3 Colby Mules:
The Mules are 26-3 on the season, with their only conference loss coming from Wesleyan. They avenged this loss in the Regional Championship, defeating their conference rival through a reverse sweep. The Mules are led by their outsides with Junior Brady Moseley carrying the most weight with 351 kills on the season. She is followed by Senior Outside LJ Grant with 172. The hitters are fueled by Junior Setter Gabby Grujic with 609 assists. Cyanne Jones defends the net and leads the team in blocks (114) and Reese Loyd defends the back row with an impressive 345 digs.
Looking ahead:
The winner of the quarterfinal game will advance to the Semi-finals on Thursday 12/4 and play the winner of Wisconsin- Oshkosh vs. Calvin . The time of that match is TBA.
