MASON, Ohio – By virtue of straight-set sweeps, Cedarville and Trevecca Nazarene both earned the right to compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship final following Friday’s semifinal results.
The Yellow Jackets and Trojans will battle it out on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST for the conference tournament trophy and the G-MAC’s first automatic qualifier in the NCAA DII Championship Midwest Regional.
Cedarville returns to familiar territory hunting for its fourth consecutive G-MAC Championship crown.
The league has still yet to experience a champion other than the Yellow Jackets -- a trend that Trevecca Nazarene is hoping to reverse.
Cedarville, the Blue Division’s top seed, advanced to the final by beating No. 2 Davis & Elkins, 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-17).
The Senators had advanced with a quarterfinal win vs. No. 3 Ursuline on Thursday, but Cedarville was too powerful up front in the early matchup.
Kristin Cardwell had 34 assists and five kills, simply keeping D&E’s off balance and opening up the middle of the floor for a group of hitters,, including G-MAC Co-Player of the Year Abby Shelton.
Shelton ripped 13 kills and hit .524 as Cedarville attacked with a .427 percentage as an entire team. G-MAC Freshman of the Year Taylor Wlikerson and Krissy Pratt each had seven kills.
D&E was led with seven kills each from Elizabeth Estes and Devin Saucy. The Senators closed their tournament run with an overall record of 15-16.
In the nightcap, Trevecca Nazarene blazed a trail to the final by taking down the Black Division’s top seed, Alderson Broaddus.
After the Battlers enjoyed a first-round bye in the quarterfinals, a considerable traveling contingent showed up for both sides to set the scene for a nice crowd inside Mason Arena.
But after AB had the upper hand on TNU in the regular season, this time the Trojans flipped the script for the upset, winning in straight sets, 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-18).
Freshman Clare Taylor and G-MAC Co-Player of the Year Katelyn Atkinson combined for 23 kills and while freshman Alex Reuter had eight. Another freshman, Janessa Hodge, had six blocks.
The Battlers enjoyed a big night up front from first-team all-conference middle Jayla McCrary (12 kills, .556), but couldn’t solve the Trojans as they hit .252.
Saturday’s final will be streamed live on G-MACsports.com with stats.