ATLANTA, Ga. — The No. 11 Berry College volleyball team picked up two more Southern Athletic Association victories with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Millsaps and host Oglethorpe on Saturday.
Berry 3 Millsaps 0
Berry controlled the match offensively, finishing with 38 kills and only five attack errors for a .367 hitting percentage. The Vikings also recorded 10 service aces and five total blocks while holding Millsaps to a .034 hitting percentage. The Vikings jumped in front early in the opening set.
Madie Whitehead put down Berry's first kill before
Shelby Harris followed with a kill to give the Vikings a 3-1 advantage. Harris added another kill to make it 4-2, and
Andrea Hurt followed with a service ace to stretch the lead to 5-2. Whitehead added another kill for a 6-3 advantage before Berry continued to create separation.
Keira Kruk recorded her first kill to make it 9-6 and followed with another to push the lead to 10-7.
Cali Armstead then joined the attack with a kill as Berry moved ahead 11-8.
The Vikings began to pull away in the middle of the set. Whitehead recorded another kill before an attack error gave Berry a 15-10 lead.
Ava Brovet then put down a kill, and another Millsaps error extended the advantage to 17-10. Kruk added a kill for an 18-11 lead before Brovet's second kill made it 20-12. Berry remained in control down the stretch. Brovet and Armstead combined for a block to make it 21-14 before Armstead added another kill for a 23-16 advantage.
Ailee England followed with a service ace, and a Millsaps attack error gave Berry the opening set, 25-16.
The Vikings continued their strong play in the second set. Kruk recorded a kill to give Berry a 2-1 advantage before England delivered back-to-back service aces, quickly stretching the lead to 4-1.
Harris and Whitehead added kills as Berry maintained its advantage. Brovet recorded a kill to make it 7-5 before Kruk helped the Vikings extend the lead to 9-5.
Maddie Dahl later delivered a service ace for an 11-6 advantage, and Armstead followed with a kill to make it 12-7. Brovet added an ace before another Kruk kill gave Berry a 14-8 advantage. Armstead then recorded a solo block, and England followed with another service ace to push the Vikings ahead 16-8. Berry continued to add to its lead behind kills from Harris and Dahl. Back-to-back kills from Kruk moved the Vikings ahead 20-11, and another Millsaps attack error made it 21-11. Armstead added kills for Berry's 23rd and 24th points before the Vikings finished off the second set 25-17 to take a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was the closest of the afternoon. Millsaps scored the opening point before Kruk answered with a kill. After Millsaps moved ahead 2-1, Kruk recorded another kill to tie the set. Berry then began to find separation as Whitehead added a kill and followed with a service ace. Harris recorded a kill to give Berry a 7-3 advantage, and another Millsaps error pushed the lead to 8-3. Kruk later added a kill to make it 10-5 before Brovet put down a kill for an 11-5 advantage. Berry continued to stay in control as Kruk recorded another kill for a 12-6 lead. Whitehead later added a kill before England delivered a service ace to make it 15-8. Kruk struck again to give the Vikings a 16-9 advantage. A block from
Rosemary Boylston and Whitehead extended the lead to 17-9 before Hurt delivered a service ace for an 18-9 advantage. Millsaps responded with a run to cut Berry's lead to 19-14, but Kruk stopped the run with another kill.Millsaps made another late push and pulled within 21-18, but Berry answered. England recorded a kill to make it 22-18 before a Millsaps error moved the Vikings ahead 23-19. Whitehead and Armstead then combined for a block to bring Berry to match point at 24-19. Whitehead finished the match with a kill to secure the 25-20 set victory and complete the sweep.
Kruk led Berry with 14 kills and no attack errors on 25 attempts, finishing with a .560 hitting percentage. Whitehead added eight kills and 10 digs, while Harris and Armstead each finished with five kills. Brovet directed the offense with 33 assists while adding four kills. England led Berry from the service line with five aces, while Hurt added two. Hurt and Whitehead each recorded 10 digs as the Vikings completed the three-set conference victory.
Berry 3 Oglethorpe 0
The Vikings controlled the match on both sides of the net, finishing with 40 kills and a .380 hitting percentage while holding Oglethorpe to a .013 hitting percentage. Berry got off to a quick start in the opening set behind kills from
Cali Armstead and
Madie Whitehead to take a 2-0 lead. An Oglethorpe attack error made it 3-0 before the Storm got on board.
Keira Kruk then added a kill, and another Oglethorpe attack error pushed Berry's advantage to 6-2. The Vikings continued to stay in front as Armstead added another kill to make it 7-3. Whitehead followed with a kill for an 8-4 advantage, and Berry later stretched the lead to 11-5 after back-to-back Oglethorpe attack errors. Kruk answered an Oglethorpe point with another kill to give Berry a 12-7 lead. Oglethorpe stayed within reach during the middle of the set, but Berry continued to answer. Armstead recorded a kill to make it 15-10 before kills from
Shelby Harris and Kruk helped the Vikings build a 17-12 advantage. Harris and Whitehead then added kills as Berry stretched the lead to 19-12 and forced an Oglethorpe timeout. Berry kept the pressure on late in the set. Whitehead delivered a service ace to make it 21-13 before a kill from
Maddie Dahl moved the Vikings ahead 23-13. Whitehead followed with another kill to bring Berry to set point at 24-13. The Vikings went on to close out the opening frame 25-16 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Berry carried the momentum into the second set and quickly established control. Whitehead opened the scoring with a kill before an Oglethorpe attack error gave the Vikings a 2-0 advantage. Armstead followed with a kill, and two more Oglethorpe attack errors helped Berry extend its lead to 5-1. Kills from Harris and Armstead pushed the advantage to 7-2 before Oglethorpe put together a short run to close the gap to 9-7. Berry responded immediately with a kill from Dahl to begin another run. Whitehead then helped Berry take control from the service line. An Oglethorpe attack error made it 11-7 before Whitehead recorded a service ace. Harris and Dahl combined for a block, Harris added a kill and Dahl followed with another kill as Berry built a 15-7 advantage.
Whitehead continued to cause problems from the service line, recording multiple aces as Berry extended the lead to 19-7. The Vikings never allowed Oglethorpe back into the set.
Ailee England recorded a kill to make it 20-8, and
Izzy Baldwin later put down a kill for a 21-9 advantage. England added another kill to move Berry ahead 23-10 before the Vikings finished the second set 25-11.
Berry again started quickly in the third set, with Kruk recording kills on each of the Vikings' first two points.
Elise Trimble followed with a service ace before Armstead added a kill to help Berry take a 4-1 lead. An
Andrea Hurt service ace later pushed the advantage to 6-3. Oglethorpe eventually cut Berry's lead to 10-8, but Kruk helped the Vikings take control of the set. She recorded consecutive kills to make it 12-8 before an Oglethorpe attack error extended the lead. Kruk continued her strong stretch with four more kills as Berry opened up a 17-8 advantage. After Oglethorpe scored three straight points to cut the lead to 17-11, Berry responded again.
Sarah Dunford and Armstead combined for a block before Armstead followed with another kill to make it 20-11.
Ryn Gaertner added a kill, and another Armstead kill pushed Berry ahead 22-12. England then put down a kill to give the Vikings a 23-12 advantage. Dunford and
Kendall Stansbury combined for a block to bring Berry to match point before Kruk finished the afternoon with a service ace, securing the 25-12 third-set victory and completing the sweep.
Berry controlled nearly every statistical category, finishing with a 40-19 advantage in kills and a 37-19 advantage in assists. The Vikings also recorded 11 service aces, 34 digs and seven total blocks.
Kruk led Berry with a match-high 11 kills and played a major role in the Vikings pulling away in the third set. Armstead added eight kills, while Whitehead finished with six as Berry used a balanced offensive attack throughout the three-set victory.
The Vikings continue action on the road as they head to Danville, KY for the Centre Pod as they open up play against Southwestern on Friday, October 16 at 5:00 PM.
