MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Berry College Vikings volleyball team continued their strong season on Saturday afternoon, earning a 3-0 sweep over Huntingdon College at The Cage Center. Berry controlled the match from start to finish, winning by set scores of 25-9, 25-12 and 25-19 to improve to 23-5 overall.
Berry set the tone early in the opening set, jumping out to a 5-3 lead before beginning to pull away. The Vikings continued to build their advantage behind kills from
Keira Kruk,
Madie Whitehead and
Ryn Gaertner. A strong serving run from
Ailee England helped Berry extend its lead to 17-7, highlighted by an ace and kills from Kruk and
Cali Armstead. The Vikings maintained control down the stretch as
Ava Brovet recorded four service aces in the set before
Maddie Dahl delivered the final kill to secure a dominant 25-9 victory.
The Vikings carried that momentum into the second set, opening with five consecutive points behind kills from Whitehead and Kruk along with two service aces from
Elise Trimble. Berry continued to build its advantage as kills from Gaertner and Armstead helped stretch the lead to 13-5. Huntingdon struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Vikings' defense, allowing Berry to extend its lead to 17-6. The Vikings remained in control throughout the remainder of the set, with Gaertner adding another kill before a Huntingdon attack error secured the 25-12 victory and gave Berry a 2-0 match lead.
Huntingdon showed more fight in the third set, keeping things close early and eventually taking a 12-11 lead. The Vikings responded with kills from Gaertner and
Rosemary Boylston to regain control. With the set tied at 14-14, Berry scored three consecutive points behind two kills from Boylston and a Huntingdon attack error to take a 17-14 advantage. Huntingdon continued to battle, cutting the deficit to 17-16, but the Vikings answered with kills from Kruk to extend their lead to 20-16. Berry maintained its advantage down the stretch before Whitehead delivered the final kill to secure a 25-19 set victory and complete the sweep.
Kruk led the Vikings with 16 kills while hitting .483 and added eight digs. Whitehead followed with 12 kills and 10 digs, while Gaertner contributed six kills while hitting .455. Trimble paced the offense with 25 assists and three service aces, while Brovet recorded 10 assists and four aces.
Andrea Hurt led Berry defensively with 12 digs.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 23-5 overall. They travel to San Antonio, Texas next week for the SAA tournament where they will face the winner of Trinity and Millsaps on Friday, November 13 at 6:00 PM ET.
