Women's volleyball punches ticket to 10th SLIAC tournament championship match with win over Webster
Greenville defeated visiting Webster 21-25, 25-15, 25-21, 26-24 in the semifinals of the SLIAC tournament on Saturday to set up their 10th appearance in the SLIAC tournament championship match.
GREENVILLE, Ill. - The women's volleyball team needs one more win for their seventh SLIAC tournament championship and sixth appearance in the NCAA tournament. Greenville defeated visiting Webster 21-25, 25-15, 25-21, 26-24 in the semifinals of the SLIAC tournament on Saturday to set up their 10th appearance in the SLIAC tournament championship match.
In the first set of the match, the No. 1 seed Panthers dropped the first seven points before No. 5 seed Webster's service error gave GU their first point.
Head coach Tom Ackerman called a timeout when the Panthers faced an 11-2 deficit, and Greenville worked its way back to four point deficits of 22-18 and 24-20 before Webster completed the first set win.
In set two, the Panthers established control and forced a Webster timeout with an 8-3 lead. However, the Gorlok timeout did not result in much change and another timeout came with Greenville up 17-9. Greenville ended the set with a 25-15 win.
The Panthers continued their superior play, jumping out to a 10-5 lead in the third set and eventually pushing their lead to as many as seven points at 21-14.
The Gorloks got within three points, but the Panthers took the set 25-21.
The Panthers wrapped up the match with a tight final set, winning 26-24 after trailing 21-19 late in the set. Greenville rattled off seven of the final 10 points, capped by a kill from Anna Finch to close the win.
The Panthers offense was led by Finch, Sacorra Patton, Jasmin Smith, and Emily Stahl who combined for 42 of Greenville's 52 kills. Finch led the team with 12 kills, and Stahl added 10 kills and a team-high hitting rate of .364. Smith and Patton also added 10 kills.
Chasity Hill had answer upon answer for Webster's attack, ending with 27 digs.
Lauren Spivey performed well at the net, picking up two solo blocks and two block assists.
The Panthers (23-6) will face the winner of No. 2 seed Westminster and No. 3 seed Spalding in the championship match at 6 p.m.