G-MAC Championship Bracket (PDF)
Official Championship Page
MASON, Ohio – Both divisional champs, No. 1 Davis & Elkins and No. 1 Cedarville, are set to meet in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship match following Friday’s semifinal results.
Davis & Elkins and Cedarville both enjoyed first-round byes before showing up in impressive fashion at Mason Arena with straight-set sweeps against their respective opponents.
Davis & Elkins beat No. 3 Ursuline, 3-0, (25-14, 25-23, 25-21), before Cedarville performed the same result in the nightcap, 3-0, (25-14, 25-22, 25-17).
D&E (15-18) and Cedarville (25-8) will play in the championship final on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. EST with the league’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional on the line.
Cedarville will be playing for its fourth league title in five attempts (2012, 2013, 2014) while D&E is making the program’s first appearance in the league final.
The championship match will be streamed live at G-MACSports.com on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Moments That Mattered
Davis & Elkins’ Kelly Smith served up an ace to break a 21-21 tie in the third set, marking the Senators’ second straight completed rally in a set. Smith controlled the serve the rest of the way, punctuated by match point on a long rally with a kill by Anna Gallup.
It appeared that Ursuline had D&E on the ropes in the second set to even things at 1-1 up 25-20, but D&E triggered a 7-2 run started with a kill from Zoe Craig to draw even at 22-22. Ursuline used both timeouts and the Senators were able to close it out to really take control of the eventual outcome.
The Senators’ first-team all-conference tandem up front of Elizabeth Estes and Sasha Johnson gave the Arrows fits. D&E had nine total team blocks with Estes, Johnson and Raleigh Weaver, each recording four.
Cedarville’s Krissy Pratt put the Pioneers on their heels with a devastating top-spin serve that resulted in a total of five aces.
But it wasn’t just the sheer power she displayed – Pratt place several in the corners of the court with wicked downward trajectory that just left Malone standing. By controlling possession, Pratt, one of Cedarville’s seven all-conference performers, made her presence felt.
Cedarville’s Abby Shelton quietly had a monster game with 18 kills in just the three games. She had those 18 kills on just 32 swings for a .469 hitting percentage. 2015 G-MAC Freshman of the Year Taylor Wilkerson had a tremendous third set and finished with eight kills.
Malone sophomore Mallory Adams finished with 10 kills to lead the Pioneers, who made a great impression in their first year with the league after beating No. 3 Kentucky Wesleyan in the opening round.
Ursuline’s senior Makayla Windau finished her career with 995 kills, just five shy of 1,000, after ripping a game-high 20 to lead all players in the semifinals against No. 2 Trevecca Nazarene. Windau currently ranks seventh all-time in conference history in that category.