No.7-ranked Berry Vikings swept Carnegie Mellon on Friday night, 3-0 (25-23, 25-14,25-18) in round two of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Transylvania Regional.This marks only the second time a team has swept Carnegie Mellon all season.
The Vikings (25-4) took the first set 25-23, with the two teams finding themselves tied 12 times. Berry was unable to pull away from Tartans, as the second-seeded team in the region matched whatever the Vikings cooked up on offense.
Jazzy Innis gave her team a three point lead 20-17 on a kill, putting the set one win in Berry's sights, but the Tartans managed to fight their way back to tie it at 21 a piece. CMU took a 23-22 lead, but a service error and an
Emily Rapach service ace gave Berry set point. A bad set by CMU during the next rally handed the Vikings the set, 25-23.
Berry jumped out in front of the Tartans 10-6 thanks to a kill from
Peyton Breissinger. From there, the Vikings kept Carnegie Mellon at an arm's length, with
Molly Bergin delivering a unreturnable attack making it 16-10 Vikings. Four straight points put Berry at a 22-13 lead, putting the set out of reach for the Tartans.
The Tartans made key mistakes early on in the third set as Berry doubled its lead to 12-6. Carnegie Mellon fought back to come within reach of the Vikings 18-17, but that would be the closest they would come to Berry all set, before the Vikings put down four straight kills to advance to their third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Innis led the team with 13 kills and hitting .480, while Breissinger double-doubled with 10 kills and 13 digs.
The Vikings will now face host Transylvania Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. in Lexington, Ky., for the regional championship. The Pioneers rallied from two sets down to win in five over top-seeded Emory, with Transy taking the final set 15-13.
