MORRISTOWN, TN -- Walters State is headed back to the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Tournament.
Coach Meagan Blaylock's team earned the trip with tough five-set victory over visiting Cape Fear (N.C.) Friday night in the Southeast District B Championship game. The Lady Senators lost the opening set 25-20 but bounced back for a 25-23 win in the second set. The Sea Devils took the third set 26-24 but Walters State fought off elimination by scoring the final nine points for a 25-18 win in set four.
In the deciding set, the Lady Senators never trailed in a 15-12 victory that sends them to the nationals.
The championships will be played at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 15-18.
Blaylock's club will take a 25-7 worksheet into the tournament while Cape Fear's season is over with a 20-4 record. Two of the losses came at the hands of Walters State and the other two were to defending national champion Richard Bland College.
Former Morristown East standout Finley Surber sparked Walters State's win on Friday night as she knocked down 13 kills in coming off the bench. Lauren Mims added nine while Alyssa Campbell chipped in seven.
Catherine Sweeney, Campbell and Haylee Richardson all blocked three shots for the Lady Senators while Mims had two. Sweeney served a pair of aces while Mattie Davis, Olivia Brown, Jaci Drinnon, Allison Singleton, Mims and Maddie Rockrohr all added one.
Drinnon led in digs after being named as the most valuable player in the recent Region Seven Tournament.
The Sea Devils got 13 kills from London Ipsen, 12 from Abby Morse and 10 from Mackenzie Davis in the loss. Morse blocked six shots and Davis three as the losers played well on defense. Quincy Vanderhorst added seven kills, two blocks and served two aces.
An excited Blaylock said, "We really worked hard to earn this win. Cape Fear is a really good volleyball team and we had to play well to beat them. I'm just so excited for our girls. This was a tough one.
"Finley played great tonight," said Blaylock. "She came in off the bench and did exactly what she was supposed to do. She scored and she brought energy. We counted on her tonight and she really came through for us.
"Cape Fear is really good," she said. "We prepared really hard for them this week and we came into this match expecting it to play out this way...a really competitive match.
"I think we did a really good job of doing what we needed to for the win. We established energy and maintained it most of the night. Those last nine points in the fourth set were really huge for us and the momentum carried over into the final set."
Blaylock closed, "We are extremely excited to be going to the national tournament and we're looking forward to going up there and playing good volleyball."
The Lady Senators were tied at 4-4 in the opening set but Cape Fear used a 7-1 run to grab the lead and Walters State never caught up.
Drinnon's ace got the Lady Senators within a point at 10-9 but Ipsen had three kills as the visitors pulled away. Kills by Davis and Olivia O'Kane ended the set. O'Kane had four kills on the night before leaving with an ankle injury early in the second set.
In the second set, the Lady Senators scored the first three points and led by 7-3. However, the Sea Devils rallied for a 5-1 spurt to grab a 12-10 advantage and then went up by 16-12 on back-to-back blocks by Davis.
The visitors led 18-16 when Walters rallied for a 22-19 spread. Cape Fear tied it at 22-22 and the teams traded points before Richardson had a kill and Mattie Davis blocked a shot for set point.
In the third set, it was tied five times by the time it was 6-6. The Lady Senators moved out to a 14-12 lead but a 6-1 run put the visitors back in the lead. Walters State scored six straight to lead 22-19 before Cape Fear rallied to go in front 24-23.
Walters State tied it but served into the net and Sarah Siebert's shot found an open spot on the court to the two-point win.
It looked as if the Lady Senators' season was in jeopardy when Cape Fear scored six straight points to tie the fourth set at 14-14. Vanderhorst then put down a kill and served two straight aces to give her team an 18-16 advantage.
But Surber had three kills then scored the set point on a dink in the 9-0 rally.
In the deciding set, Mims' kill supplied the first point before Ipsen knocked down a kill to tie it. But Sweeney had a kill and served an ace and the Lady Senators never trailed.
After the Sea Devils scored, Campbell and Surber had kills to the Lady Senators. The visitors scored two straight but Surber scored again and Richardson came up with a block.
A kill by Mims and a kill out of bounds gave the home team an 11-7 lead. After a serve sailed long and Morse blocked a shot to cut the lead to two Blaylock took a time out.
Mims came up with a kill and Sweeney had a block to extend the lead. Campbell's block put the Lady Senators at match point and Surber pushed the ball into an open spot for the match winner.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics