Greenville Headed To National Tournament After Thrilling Come Back

The 2015 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship came down to a battle between the two top seeded teams in the tournament, #1 Greenville College and #2 Westminster College, with Greenville taking the show down in come from behind fashion, 3-2. After dropping the first two sets of the match and trailing late in the fifth set Greenville rallied to win the program's second ever SLIAC Championship.

Westminster edge out Greenville in the first two sets, winning 25-23 and 26-24, behind a strong hitting performance. The Blue Jays put down a match high 14 kills in the opening set and then hit a match high .310 in the second set.

However the host Panthers got on a roll in the third set. With the game tied at 9-9 the Panthers went on a 7-1 run to grab momentum and close out the set with a 25-18 win. The Panthers ended up hitting .412 in the set, with 17 kills and just three errors. The Panthers carried that momentum into the fourth set, and used another run mid-way through to open up a small lead before finishing it off for a 25-21 win.

The Blue Jays opened up the fifth and decisive set strong, jumping out to a 12-7 lead after a kill by Amanda Kiso. However the Panthers stopped the Blue Jays run with a timeout, taking control of the ball after a Blue Jay attack error. From there the ball, and match, fell into the hands of Emily Thebeau. Thebeau came off the bench to play a vital role and toed the service line, delivering an ace to star the Panther rally. Thebeau served up the ball five more times, with Hannah Baker and Allyson Mitchell finishing points with kills, and gaining a fifth point for her team with another ace.

The Blue Jays closed the score to 14-13 on a kill by Gabby LaRose but were unable to even the score as the Panthers completed the come from behind win with a kill from Riley Hannula, winning 15-13. Greenville hit .249 as a team, with Hannah Baker leading the Panthers with 20 kills. Savannah Sells added 18 kills and five total blocks. Kirsten Laune recorded 56 assists for the Panthers while Jamie Schollenbruch, the Tournament MVP, recorded 39 digs. Westminster hit .191 as a team with Hannah Marshall leading the way with 17 kills. Kayla Reeg paced the Blue Jays with 50 assists, chipping in with 18 digs. Greenville improves to 24-7 overall and will await the announcement of the NCAA Division III Tournament field on Monday.

Following the match the 2015 SLIAC Volleyball All-Tournament team was announced. Greenville's Jamie Schollenbruch was named MVP while teammates Allyson Mitchell, and Emily Thebeau joined her on the All-Tournament team. From Westminster Lexi Collier and Amanda Kiso were named All-Tournament as were Lynsey Wehrenberg, from Fontbonne University, and Rachel Nelson, from Webster University.