MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - In an early Southern Athletic Association showdown of two teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25, No. 10 Berry rose to the moment, sweeping No. 23 Birmingham-Southern 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-13) to remain unbeaten in league play.

"We talk about those opportunities and those moments a lot," said Berry head coach Caitlyn Moriarty. "Obviously, our preseason schedule was tough to prepare us for moments like this. We were really focused and competitive in practice this week knowing that this was a big match-up. I thought they really rose to the occasion and had fun today."

The Vikings (9-2, 5-0) shot out like a lightning bolt to start the match, jumping ahead 10-2 thanks to a cacophany of kills by Olivia Mallow and Peyton Breissinger. The duo had six kills combined over a 7-0 run that saw the Vikings pull away from the Panthers early. BSC (9-3, 3-1) would never recover in the set, as once Emily Rapach fired home a service ace to make it 15-4, the Vikings would hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the frame. A BSC hitting error on Berry's second crack at set point gave the Vikings the frame, 25-11.

In set two, once Rapach dumped home a tight pass from Breissinger, the Vikings held a 4-3 advantage and would never lose the lead again in the set. With BC up 8-7, Jazzy Innis helped spark a 5-0 run with three kills in the spurt to build the lead up to six, 13-7. Back-to-back Breissinger aces in the latter stages of the set built the lead to 21-11 and the Panthers were staggered. A BSC service error on Berry's second set point chance gave the Vikings a commanding lead in the match with a 25-14 win in the set.

Tied 4-all early in the third set, the Vikings went in for the knockout blow. A 5-0 run with kills from Innis and Cypress Guenther made it 9-4 for the home side. Ahead 10-6, Gunther and Bella Boston combined for back-to-back blocks, then an Innis swing on a BSC overpass made it 13-6 and sent the Panthers into the huddle for a timeout. Up 22-11, Breissinger closed out her double-double in style, getting Berry's final three points via kills for a 10-kill, 10-dig effort as the Vikings took the final set 25-13 and the match 3-0.

"I think we were really loud on offense," said Breissinger. "Everyone was wanting the ball. Everyone was available and that allowed [Emily] to really spread the ball on offense and give everyone opportunities to score."

Rapach finished with a match-high 33 assists and guided the team to a .314 hitting percentage. In all, the Vikings had just nine attack errors for the afternoon, five of which came via BSC blocks.

Innis led the Vikings with 12 kills while Mallow had a .500 attack percentage thanks to eight kills on 16 swings without an error. Kate Whittle had 15 digs to lead all players. As a team, the Vikings had eight service aces compared to just one for the guests.

Berry will be back in action this Friday at Rhodes in SAA play. Opening serve is set for 7:30 p.m.