MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Berry College Vikings volleyball team capped off a sweep of the Berry Invitational with a dominant sweep of the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets on Saturday afternoon in the Cage Center.
The Vikings came racing out of the gate on an 8-2 run on Parent's Day led by a kill each from Maddie Dahl, Ava Brovet and Shelby Harris forcing the Yellow Jackets to call an early timeout. That didn't deter the Vikings as they put the pedal down using a 6-2 run with two more kills from Dahl to stretch their lead to 14-4 forcing another timeout. The Yellow Jackets fought to get within 17-8 but it was all Vikings as they closed out the set on an 8-2 run with two kills by Madie Whitehead to win 25-10 and take a 1-0 lead.
The second set was a different story as the Yellow Jackets regrouped and took an early 11-6 advantage. Unbothered, the Vikings quickly answered on a 4-0 run with two more kills from Brovet and Dahl to pull within 11-10 forcing a timeout out of the Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets then extended their lead back out to 15-13 but the Vikings replied with four straight kills including two from Whitehead as the Vikings took their first lead of the set 17-15. The Yellow Jackets would then make it 18-17 but that's as close as they got as the Vikings closed out the set on a 7-2 run with two kills from Keira Kruk and an ace from Ailee England to seal a 25-19 set win and a 2-0 lead.Â
The Yellow Jackets continued to show fight in the third set as they took an early 4-1 lead but the Vikings quickly tied it with three straight kills from Madie Whitehead, Maddie Dahl and Shelby Harris to make it 4-4. The Vikings then took the lead on a Shelby Harris kill as the teams began to exchange leads over the course of the set. Later with the match tied 11-11 the Vikings went on a 4-1 run finished off by a Brovet ace to take a 15-12 lead. The Vikings would go on to lead 19-14 but the Yellow Jackets kept battling as they got within 23-22. The Vikings held strong with a big block from Brovet and Dahl followed by a Whitehead kill to seal a 25-22 win and a 3-0 sweep.
Whitehead led the Vikings with 12 kills while Brovet led with 30 assists and Kruk led with 12 digs.
The Vikings will continue their season on the road as they travel to San Antonio, Texas on Friday, September 25 for a key matchup against No. 3 Trinity at 6:30 PM.
