Virginia Beach, Va. - The Berry Volleyball team faced a very intensive but exciting match in this one as they controlled the game throughout and closed it out in the fourth set against Virginia Wesleyan University, 3-1. Madie Whitehead shined bright as she broke the single-season record for kills, really impressive.  

The Vikings started off the first set with a strong serve from Ava Brovet that was then followed by a quick strike from Madie Whitehead, scoring the Vikings their first point of the game 

Blakely Barnes proved to be a tough wall to break down this set as she scored points for the Vikings by blocking down multiple strike attempts from the Marlins. 

The first set went on with a lot of back and forth action and close ranged points between both teams. The Marlins really started to find momentum and the lead as they reached their 10th point. From there, they continued to rack up points and gain a significant advantage over the Vikings. 

As the Vikings trailed the Marlins 13-19, you can see the Vikings were way in dyer straits and in need of a momentum swing as the Marlins neared set point. A kill from Madie Whitehead gave the Vikings a much-needed point that seemed to boost their momentum as they scored more needed kills.  

The set went on with the Vikings making up ground as Blakely Barnes scored a service ace, setting them at a tie with the Marlins 23-23. Close to set point both teams fought hard and went past the 25th point mark as they kept tying, not allowing the other get the ever so elusive two point advantage. It all ended as two attack errors were made by the Marlins, giving the victory to Berry for the first set, 1-0. 

The Vikings started off strong in their second set, scoring four unanswered to begin the second frame. 

The Marlins caught up quick as they were able to redeem some points. Berry put a stop to that though as Madie Whitehead performed a service ace that set the score at a tie 8-8. More back and forth went on between both teams, both fighting neck and neck until the Vikings reached their 21st point where they really started to leave the Marlins behind. 

A kill by Keira Kruk was made as the Vikings advanced and reached their 22nd point. Kruk continued her attack with kill after kill, until the  Vikings reached their 24th point when she performed the winning kill that ended the second set in the Vikings favor. This left the score 2-0.  

The third set started off with neither team having an advantage. Both the Vikings and the Marlins were not letting each other gain the lead. The Marlins changed that when they reached their 8th point as they gained a three point advantage with the Vikings behind at 5.  

The Vikings did manage to continue to score more points with Keira Kruk putting in a lot of work to gain those kills. A lot of attack and service errors were made on both sides but more on Berry's side as they gave up some free points.  

The set continued to move on without Berry when they reached their 13th point. Throughout the rest of this set they did not score any more kills as the Marlins went on to win the third set, 13-25. This left the score to be 2-1. 

The fourth set started off with Cali Armstead scoring the first point. The Vikings mustered up the courage and willpower to control the set with the Marlins tailing them closely.

A service ace by Lura Underwood created a 3 point advantage for the Vikings, with the score being set at 7-4. The Vikings started to falter after this lead as the Marlins caught up and set them at a tie 8-8. More back and forth and ties occurred with neither team willing to let the other maintain a lead. 

When Berry reached their 20th point, the Marlins reached their 22nd creating a two point gap between the two. The Vikings had to fight hard to catch up, which they did which led them to tie with the Marlins 24-24. At that point, the Vikings decided it was time to wrap things up as Keira Kruk made the second to last kill. This was followed with a powerful double block, as  Cali Armstead and Madie Whitehead rose to the occasion to finalize their ticket to the next round by a final score of 3-1 

The Vikings will face Christopher Newport tomorrow at 3 PM, as they look to win the region!