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Championship Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – Call them the road warriors.
The visitors and No. 3 seeds assigned from each division, Ohio Dominican and Trevecca Nazarene, both went into their opponent’s home facility to secure an opening round victory following Tuesday’s Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship quarterfinal action.
The Panthers and Trojans earned their place in the conference tournament semifinals that will be conducted on Friday from Hillsdale at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
No. 1 (North) Hillsdale and No. 1 (South) Ashland were each respective divisional champions and earned a first-round bye in the six-team bracket format.
After being swept by Findlay in the lone regular season meeting, Ohio Dominican turned the tables on the Oilers with a sweep of their own with game scores settling out at 25-21, 30-28, 25-19.
The ascension of ODU’s program continues as the Panthers celebrated their first semifinal appearance in the postseason since joining the Great Midwest as a full member in 2017. Last spring represented the team’s first playoff berth as Amy Bambenek was pronounced co-Coach of the Year by her peers.
Olivia Kirksey was the team leader in kills for Ohio Dominican with a dozen as she hit an efficient .391 up front. Carleigh Deitsch racked up 33 assists and the block was stout with Jazlyn Lohman collecting three solo blocks. Findlay was led by three-time divisional player of the week Journey Blevins as she led all players with 18 kills.
Ohio Dominican (17-13, 9-7) will next meet Ashland in Friday’s second round semifinal with a start time set for 7:30 p.m. ET on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
The margin between Trevecca and Walsh was razor thin during the regular season matchup on October 22 in a five-set final. The Trojans booked their spot in the conference tournament semifinals for the first time since the 2015 campaign.
Ellie Buffler matched her season-high output with 19 kills and Lydia Yonce added 12 for the Trojans (19-10, 9-7) as they won 27-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19, from Alumni Arena in North Canton. Chloee McDaniel also had a double-double with 42 assists and 14 digs as TNU hit .221 as a team.
Trevecca’s next opponent is top seeded Hillsdale on Friday with a 5 p.m. ET start time on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
The Great Midwest All-Conference Team and individual awards as voted by the coaches is also scheduled to be released on Thursday afternoon.