Panthers Cap Perfect Season

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Greenville University capped off their 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season in a way rarely done, by sweeping through its conference opponents and going unblemished through the regular season and postseason; dropping just three sets to conference opponents all season long. Greenville, the top seed in the tournament, went 12-0 during the regular season and picked up two more wins in the tournament; extending their winning streak against conference opponents to 20 matches. 

The host Panthers wasted no time in getting the home crowd behind them, rolling off the first eight points in the opening championship set. An ace by Jordan Lempa got things rolling while kills from Anna Finch, two of them, and Jasmin Smith pushed the lead. The Blue Jays then committed four straight errors, sandwiched around a timeout as Greenville built up an 8-0 lead in the blink of an eye. The Blue Jays were never able to get any closer than four points in the set however as their offense managed just 6 kills while committing 8 errors. A kill from Emily Stahl gave Greenville the set and momentum heading into the second frame.

This time it was Westminster picking up points early, taking advantage of two Greenville miscues. But the Panthers turned to one of their leaders, Finch, who delivered three of the Panthers' next four points on kills to give Greenville the 4-2 lead. The Blue Jays trailed by just one, at 7-6, after a kill by Gretchen Durbala but a service error followed and gave the ball back to the Panthers. From there it was another senior leader's turn, Jasmin Smith, who put down back-to-back kills for the Panthers and opening the set up. That was the turning point as the Blue Jays could never get any closer with Greenville pulling away with six straight points. 

The third set was the definition of a championship set with both teams battling back and forth in front of the raucous crowd. Westminster took a 4-2 lead after a kill by Haley Menke and extended that lead to 7-4 after an ace from Durbala. The Panthers setter Jordan Lempa took over from there, calling plays for three different Panthers on three consecutive plays that resulted in kills and a tie 8-8 score. With the match even at 11-11, Finch notched another turkey, putting down three straight kills once again in the match. 

Down 22-20 after a kill by Payton Bledsoe, Eryka Wanyonyi did her best to push the match to a fourth set by notching back-to-back aces to even the score. However, the teams would trade points on the next four plays before Claire Whitehouse was able to give Westminster the edge at 25-24. Jasmin Smith evened the score back up and after another Blue Jay point, Lauren Spivey followed with another kill to tie the score. Whitehouse once again gave the Blue Jays the lead and the serve with a chance to win the set but Spivey put down her second straight kill for a 27-27 score. A Greenville block, by Spivey and the surprise front-row presence of Mia Bonacorsi, brought the Panthers to within one point of the championship and it was Smith that delivered with an ace. 

Smith led all players with 16 kills while Finch added 12 kills. Greenville hit .309 in the match with 46 total kills while Westminster hit just .062 with 29 kills and 22 errors. Greenville improves to 23-6 overall this season and earns the conference's automatic bid to the national tournament. 

This is the 7th Championship in program history and second straight. They are the first team to win the regular-season title outright and the conference tournament in the same season since 2016. The Panthers will now await the release of the pairings for the 2021 NCAA Division III National Tournament on Monday.

How They Got Here
Greenville opened the day with a thrilling back-and-forth match against Webster University, winning 21-25, 25-15, 25-21, and 26-24.  Four different Panthers reached double figures in kills while Chasity Hill had 27 digs. Webster's Lauren Borik led all players with 19 kills in the losing effort. 

Westminster topped Spalding in the other semifinal match on the day; winning 25-15, 15-25, 25-20, 25-16. The Blue Jays were led by Eryka Wanyonyi's 19 kills while Hannah Holland had 14 kills. 

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