BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 16 Berry College Vikings volleyball team's historic run at the NCAA Division III Championships came to an end as they fell in a dramatic five set thriller 3-2 to the No. 5 University of La Verne Leopards on Thursday evening at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Fresh off their upset of the formerly unbeaten top team in the country the Vikings got off to a good start as they scored the first three points of the game before building a 14-9 lead with three kills from Underwood and two for Madie Whitehead. The Leopards rallied to get within 17-16 but the Vikings continued to control the game with great digs from Andrea Hurt and even better setting from Ava Brovet followed by a big ace from Brovet to extend their lead to 20-16. The Leopards would once again come back to tie it but the Vikings would take a 24-22 edge with back to back kills from Whitehead and Underwood. The teams then battled it out for set point at the end with the Vikings eventually sealing the deal as Underwood delivered a huge kill and followed that up with an ace as the Vikings won 28-26 to take a 1-0 lead.Â
The Leopards would answer in the second set as they raced out to a 14-6 advantage. The Vikings never gave up though as they went on a 4-0 run led by great serving from Whitehead and a big kill from Shelby Harris to pull within 14-10. The Leopards would answer as they increased their lead back to 17-10. The Vikings looked for an answer with three more kills from Whitehead but they were unable to stage a comeback as they fell 25-17 with the Leopards tying the game 1-1.
The Vikings looked to answer in the third set as they fought to take an early 8-6 lead off a kill from Lura Underwood. The Leopards would rally to take an 11-8 lead but the Vikings didn't go away easily as Hurt was all over the court delivering dig after dig to keep rallies alive. Then slowly but surely the Vikings rallied back to tie the game with Brovet setting up Underwood and then Whitehead with two big kills to tie the game 21-21. The Leopards were able to hold off the Vikings though as they took the set 25-22 and went up 2-1.
With their season on the line the Vikings looked to stay alive in the fourth set as they took an early 7-5 lead off a kill by Whitehead. The Leopards would tie it but the Vikings continued to push with a 6-2 run led by two kills from Keira Kruk to stretch their lead to 15-11. The Leopards looked for an answer but the Vikings extended their lead to 20-14 with a huge service ace from Whitehead. The Leopards did not go down without a fight as they rallied to tie it 20-20. Kruk then took over with two huge kills before delivering a third to seal the set 25-22 and tie the game 2-2.
The fifth set was a battle for the ages as both teams looked to advance to the National Championship game with the Vikings looking to do it for the first time in program history. The Leopards would take an early 3-1 advantage but once again Kruk turned it on with two more kills as the Vikings took an 8-6 lead. The Leopards would quickly tie it but once again the Vikings went up 10-8. The Leopards would rally again but a huge kill by Underwood gave the Vikings an 11-10 lead. The Leopards would then go up two at 14-12 but the Vikings stayed alive with a huge block from Blakely Barnes and Brovet to make it 14-13. That's as close as they were able to get though as the Leopards closed out the game winning 15-13 and 3-2.
The Vikings fought hard and showed incredible belief and strength during their run at the tournament. Whitehead led the Viking with 23 kills, while Kruk added 16 and Underwood 15. Brovet added an incredible 51 assists while Hurt shined on defense with 25 digs and Barnes added five big blocks. This team really showed what Battle Berry means and should be proud of an incredible season.
