DANVILLE, Ky.— The Berry College volleyball team earned a five-set victory over No. 16 Trinity University on Saturday, winning 3-2 with set scores of 25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 23-25 and 15-12. The Vikings improved to 17-3 overall and 10-1 in Southern Athletic Association play with the conference win.
Berry 3 Trinity 2
Trinity took an early advantage in the opening set, building a 5-2 lead before Berry began to cut into the deficit. Kills from
Madie Whitehead,
Shelby Harris and
Ava Brovet helped the Vikings stay close, but Trinity extended its lead to 14-8. Berry answered with five straight points, getting kills from
Keira Kruk, Whitehead and Harris along with an
Ailee England service ace to pull within one at 14-13. The teams continued to trade points before Berry tied the set at 18-18 on a Harris kill. Trinity moved back in front 21-19, but Berry responded with another run. Kruk recorded a kill before a Trinity attack error, another Kruk kill and a bad set gave Berry a 23-21 advantage. Trinity answered with two straight points to tie the set at 23-23, but Kruk put Berry back in front with a kill. Boylston and Whitehead then combined for a block on set point to finish the 25-23 victory.
Berry carried that momentum into the beginning of the second set, taking a 5-2 lead behind kills from Brovet and Whitehead. Trinity responded with three straight points to tie the score at 5-5 before Harris gave Berry a 6-5 advantage with a kill. The Tigers then began to take control, moving ahead 10-8 and eventually extending their advantage to 19-10. Berry struggled to find the same offensive rhythm from the opening set, committing 10 attack errors and hitting .000 in the second. The Vikings tried to cut into the deficit late as Kruk and Harris added kills, with back-to-back Harris kills making it 20-14. Trinity answered and closed out the set 25-15 to even the match at one set apiece.
The Vikings responded quickly in the third set. After the teams split the first two points, Kruk recorded a kill before England followed with a service ace to help Berry take a 4-1 lead. Harris then recorded three kills during the next several points, while Boylston added two service aces as Berry built an 8-2 advantage. Harris continued her strong set with two more kills to push the lead to 10-3, and a Whitehead service ace later gave the Vikings an 11-3 advantage. Berry extended the lead to 16-7 behind kills from Kruk and Boylston before Trinity began to rally. The Tigers cut the deficit to 18-16, but Berry stopped the run and regained control. Armstead recorded a kill to make it 20-17 before Brovet and Kruk helped Berry reach set point at 24-18. Trinity scored twice to stay alive, but Kruk ended the set with another kill to give Berry a 25-20 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Trinity answered by taking control early in the fourth set, opening a 6-3 lead and eventually extending the advantage to 15-9. Berry then put together one of its strongest runs of the set. Whitehead recorded a kill before three Trinity attack errors and a Brovet kill helped the Vikings score five straight points and pull within one at 15-14. Trinity responded with four
straight points to move back ahead 19-14, but Berry continued to battle. Dahl recorded a kill before an England service ace, and a Kruk kill helped cut the deficit to 20-18. Berry eventually pulled within one again at 21-20 on another Kruk kill, but Trinity pushed its advantage to 24-20. Facing set point, the Vikings scored three straight points behind kills from Whitehead and Harris to make it 24-23. Trinity stopped the comeback on the next point, winning the set 25-23 and sending the match to a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set remained close early as Kruk recorded two kills to help Berry take a 3-2 advantage. Trinity responded with four straight points to move ahead 6-3, putting the Vikings in an early hole. Kruk stopped the run with another kill, and Berry began to work its way back into the set. After Trinity moved ahead 8-5, Dahl recorded three consecutive kills to tie the score to 8-8. Harris then followed with back-to-back kills to give Berry a 10-8 advantage. Trinity pulled within one at 10-9, but a service error gave Berry another point. Dahl added another kill to make it 12-10 before another Trinity service error pushed the lead to 13-11. Brovet followed with a service ace to give Berry match point at 14-11. Trinity scored once more, but Whitehead finished the match with a kill to give the Vikings a 15-12 victory.
Harris led Berry offensively with 18 kills while hitting .308 and adding 10 digs. Kruk finished with 17 kills, 13 digs and a block, while Whitehead added 14 kills, seven digs, three blocks and a service ace. Brovet directed the Berry offense with 52 assists while also contributing six kills and a service ace. Dahl provided a spark with six kills on 11 attacks for a .364 hitting percentage, including four kills during the deciding fifth set. Boylston added four blocks and two service aces, while England led Berry with three aces. Hurt anchored the defense with a team-high 21 digs and recorded two assists and a service ace.
Berry finished the match with 64 kills, 57 assists, eight service aces, eight blocks and 59 digs. The Vikings hit .212 overall compared with Trinity's .231, but Berry held a 64-53 advantage in kills. The Vikings were at their best offensively when it mattered most, recording 10 kills with only two errors in the fifth set for a .381 hitting percentage. Trinity finished with 53 kills, seven service aces, 12 blocks and 64 digs.
The Vikings responded after losses in the second and fourth sets and overcame a 6-3 deficit in the deciding fifth set to earn their second five-set victory of the weekend. The win improved to 17-3 overall and 10-1 in SAA play.
Centre 3 Berry 0
The Berry College volleyball team fell to No. 5 Centre College in three sets on Saturday, dropping the match 3-0 with set scores of 29-27, 25-21 and 25-20. The Vikings moved to 17-4 overall and 9-2 in Southern Athletic Association play, while Centre improved to 19-1 overall and 10-1 in conference play.
Centre jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, taking a 4-1 advantage before Berry began to work its way back behind kills from
Madie Whitehead and
Cali Armstead. Centre answered with a six-point run to extend its lead to 10-3. The Vikings continued to battle as
Ava Brovet,
Keira Kruk and
Shelby Harris contributed kills, helping Berry cut the deficit to 16-13. Berry then put together its strongest run of the set. Whitehead recorded a kill before adding a service ace, Harris followed with a kill and Brovet and Armstead combined for a block to tie the score at 17-17. Whitehead added another service ace before a Centre attack error gave Berry a 19-17 advantage. The teams continued to trade points down the stretch, with Kruk recording multiple kills as the score eventually reached 24-24. Harris gave Berry a 26-25 lead with a kill, and another Centre attack error put the Vikings ahead 27-26. Centre answered with the final three points, using a Berry error, a block and a kill to take the opening set 29-27.
The second set remained close early, with Berry taking a 3-1 lead behind kills from Whitehead and a Centre attack error. The teams traded points before Berry moved ahead 6-4, but Centre responded and eventually tied the score at 10-10. The Colonels then began to gain momentum, scoring five straight points to take a 15-10 advantage. Berry responded with kills from Harris and Whitehead to cut the deficit to 15-14. The Vikings continued to stay close, tying the set at 16-16 on a Centre attack error and again at 17-17 following a Harris kill. Armstead added two kills as Berry remained within striking distance at 19-19, but Centre pulled away late. The Colonels scored five of the next six points to reach set point at 24-20. Kruk kept Berry alive with a kill before Centre closed the set 25-21 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Berry came out strong in the third set, using a kill from Whitehead and a block from Armstead to take an early lead. Whitehead and Harris followed with kills as the Vikings built a 6-2 advantage. Centre responded and gradually cut into the lead, eventually tying the set at 13-13. Armstead gave Berry the lead back with a kill, but the teams continued to exchange points through the middle of the set. Kruk recorded multiple kills as Berry stayed even with Centre, with the score tied again at 15-15, 16-16 and 17-17. Centre then scored two straight points to take a 19-17 advantage. Berry continued to fight, getting a point to make it 19-18 before Centre extended the lead to 21-18. The Vikings pulled within two at 22-20 behind another Armstead kill, but Centre scored the final three points to close out the set 25-20 and secure the match.
Kruk led the Berry offense with 11 kills while hitting .200 and adding seven digs. Whitehead finished with 10 kills, two service aces and three digs, while Harris added six kills and five digs. Brovet contributed six kills on 13 attacks for a .385 hitting percentage while also leading the Vikings with 26 assists and adding seven digs. Armstead recorded five kills while hitting .300 and added two blocks.
Andrea Hurt led the Berry defense with 16 digs and contributed three assists.
As a team, Berry finished with 40 kills compared with Centre's 37, but the Colonels held advantages in hitting percentage, blocks and digs. The Vikings hit .132 for the match, while Centre finished at .200. Berry recorded 32 assists, two service aces, four blocks and 43 digs, while Centre finished with 35 assists, four aces, 12 blocks and 52 digs. Berry's strongest offensive set came in the first, when the Vikings recorded 14 kills and hit .200.
Despite battling Centre closely throughout the match and pushing the opening set past 25 points, the Vikings were unable to overcome the Colonels' defense and blocking at the net. Berry goes to 17-4 overall and 10-2 in SAA play. Berry travels to Sewanee on Saturday, October 24 to play Maryville at 2 p.m.
