ATLANTA, Ga. - The Vikings battled the Lynx of Rhodes College in the quarterfinal round of the SAA Tournament, where they won 3-0 in three nail-biting sets.
The first set was a tightly contested affair, with the two teams feeling each other out, eager not to show their full hand, having faced each other twice already this season. The Vikings found themselves behind early but were aided by some big-time kills from Keira Kruk on the front-line gave the Vikings a 21-20 lead, sparking a timeout from the Lynx. After a response from Rhodes, Madie Whitehead pushed through a kill with the mightiest of touch over the Rhodes front line to give Berry a 22-21 lead. With a 23-23 tie, Berry's front line came up huge, with Whitehead and Cali Armstead coming up with a huge cross court block to make the score 24-23. A few plays later, following a Lynx service error, Whitehead does what she has done all season, and dominated up top with a resounding kill to make the win the set 26-24.
The tightly contested action continued on in the second set, with Berry leading 10-9, Ava Brovet snuck through a textbook skip set to make the score 11-9. The Lynx slowly crept their way back into the game to take a 15-13 lead before the Vikings responded with a quick 2-0 run thanks to a fiery kill from Lura Underwood. Rhodes continued to battle though, and regained a 21-18 lead late in the set. After a Berry timeout, Brovet laid out a tremendous ball for Underwood, who placed. The ball on the back line for a kill, 21-20. Down 24-21, the Vikings' never say die attitude came into play, as they rattled off three straight points to tie the game at 24. An elongated rally led to Whitehead skying for a ball that was knocked out of bounds for a Viking point. With a 25-24 lead, a red-hot Madie Whitehead destroyed another ball to cap off a signature set comeback, 26-24.
With a comfortable two-set lead, the Vikings had already dodged multiple haymakers from the Lynx already and countered with knockout blows. Rhodes did not go away though, leading the Vikings throughout the third set. Trailing 21-19, a timeout from coach Moriarty sparked an unbelievable connection between Brovet and Underwood to cut the lead to 21-20. Then, Kruk came up big once again with a strike on the front line that tied the game at 21. Too many hits on the Rhodes side led to a 22-21 lead, just before Armstead denied an attack from Rhodes for a 23-21 lead. Keira Kruk ripped down the final two kills for her 17th and 18th of the game, leading the Vikings past the Lynx, 25-21, securing the victory for the Vikings.
The Vikings will be in action tomorrow for the semifinal round of the SAA Tournament against Southwestern at 5 PM ET as they look to advance to the championship game.
