by Richalyn Miller for Berryvikings.com

ROME, Ga. -- Berry College defeated Birmingham-Southern 3-1 on Sunday at the Cage Center. Set scores were 25-14, 25-19, 19-25, 25-12.

Emily Stromberg, Kelsey Lochstampfor and Katie O'Rourke led the Vikings with 12 kills. 

The day was noteworthy for a number of reasons:

-BC captured its second straight Southern Athletic Association championship.

-the top-seed Vikes will host the SAA championships (Nov. 8-10).

-Berry avenged its only opponent to take a conference match.

-The Vikings celebrated their Senior Day, honoring their four seniors, Sarah Steffan,Stephanie Quinn, Megan Woodall and Claressa Brekke.

-The win was the sixth straight for Berry.

With the drumline present, the atmosphere in the Cage Center was nothing less than explosive.  The Vikings came out playing strong, maintaining an easy lead over the Panthers, winning the first set 25-14.

The second set would prove to be more difficult for the home team as the Panthers kept the score close, but the Vikings managed to prevail 25-19. The struggles continued for Berry in the third set as they played from behind for most of the set and the Panthers proved to be too much, winning the set 25-19.

In the fourth set, the Vikings dominated. Scoring seven straight points to put them up 22-9, Berry easily finished off Birmingham-Southern, winning the set, 25-12.

Meredith Lee led B-SC (18-8, 7-7) with 10 kills.

"I am so proud of how this team finished today," said Berry Head Coach Mika Robinson. "They have had their sights set on today since last November, and it is such a great feeling to see their hard work rewarded with another regular season championship.  Our fans and drum line were fantastic today, and I think they were treated to some great volleyball by both teams. We are looking forward to continuing to take one step at a time towards our goals in the next few weeks."

The Vikings advanced to 21-5 overall, 13-1 in the conference. They return to action Friday, November 1 against Trinity (Texas) at the Emory National Tournament.