SEWANEE, Tenn. - The Berry College Vikings volleyball team continued its strong conference play with a 3-0 sweep of the Maryville Scots on Saturday afternoon at Juhan Gymnasium. They improve to 18-4 overall and 11-2 in SAA play.
The Vikings came out strong in the opening set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead behind back-to-back service aces from
Andrea Hurt and a kill from
Keira Kruk. Berry continued to build its advantage as kills from
Madie Whitehead and Kruk helped stretch the lead to 13-6. Maryville battled back later in the set, but the Vikings remained in control. With Berry leading 23-19, Kruk delivered back-to-back kills to close out a 25-19 set win and give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
The second set remained close early with Berry holding a 6-5 advantage before the Vikings began to pull away. A kill from Whitehead and back-to-back points from
Rosemary Boylston helped Berry extend its lead to 9-5. Maryville responded and cut the lead to 12-11, but the Vikings answered with a 6-0 run highlighted by three kills from Kruk, a kill from Boylston and an ace from Hurt to take an 18-11 advantage. Berry continued to dominate down the stretch as
Ava Brovet recorded three straight service aces before
Sarah Dunford finished the set with a kill to give the Vikings a 25-12 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Maryville came out fighting in the third set as the teams traded points throughout the early stages. With the set tied 9-9, the Vikings began to create some separation behind kills from Kruk and Whitehead. Berry eventually took a 17-13 lead after a block from Whitehead and
Maddie Dahl followed by another Whitehead kill. The Scots continued to battle and tied the set at 19-19, but Berry responded with two of the next three points to regain the lead. With the Vikings ahead 22-21,
Shelby Harris and Kruk delivered kills before Kruk added a service ace to bring Berry to match point. Maryville got one point back, but a service error sealed the 25-23 set win and the 3-0 sweep for the Vikings.
Kruk led the Vikings with 17 kills while hitting .484 and added five digs and two service aces. Whitehead finished with 11 kills and three blocks, while Brovet led Berry with 21 assists and added three aces. Hurt led the defensive effort with 15 digs while also recording four service aces.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 18-4 overall and 11-2 in SAA play. They finish up their weekend on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. vs Sewanee.
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