NAIA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Pool F | Sioux City, Iowa | Tyson Events Center
Wednesday – Dakota Wesleyan 3, SOU 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-21)
Thursday – MidAmerica Nazarene 3, SOU 2 (15-25, 25-18, 25-15, 24-26, 15-12)
5 p.m. Friday – Dakota Wesleyan vs. MidAmerica Nazarene
POOL PLAY CENTRAL
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Southern Oregon University volleyball team gave No. 10-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) all it could handle before bowing out of the NAIA Championships with a five-set loss Thursday night at the Tyson Events Center.
With three unanswered points to end the match, the Pioneers survived 15-25, 25-18, 25-15, 24-26, 15-12 to set up an elimination match against No. 6 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in Friday's Pool F finale. The winner will advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round.
MNU upped its record to 30-1 behind the potent trio of Lucie Maceckova (19 kills, 10 digs, 3 blocks), Mikayla Johnson (16 kills, 8 blocks, 6 digs) and Teresa Saunders (16 kills, 3 blocks), who did their damage on a combined attacking average of .424 to overcome the team's 14 service errors. Maceckova delivered the last two kills of the night after the Raiders came back from a 10-7 deficit to knot the tiebreaker set at 12.
The Raiders, who lost in three sets to DWU in Wednesday's pool opener, ended their season with a 22-12 record. After dominating the first set, their hopes of advancing were mathematically quashed when they dropped the second.
Junior setter
Hannah Randall had 38 assists, 10 digs and six kills for the Raiders.
Hailey Van Well led the team with 14 kills,
Katie Vroman had 12, and
Carol Melo recorded eight on 15 attempts to go with three blocks.
Karina Oliveira totaled a career-high 26 digs in her final match for SOU.
Taylor Russell, the only other senior in uniform, had nine digs and two service aces.
The Pioneers have gone 8-1 in five-set matches. The Raiders pushed them to the tiebreaker after trailing 21-20 in the fourth, where they went on a 4-1 run and Van Well and
Simone Gordon broke a 24-all deadlock with back-to-back kills.
The Raiders were appearing in the national tournament for the third time in four years, a feat they'd accomplished in only one other such stretch in program history.
