Greenville won their 10th consecutive SLIAC regular season title and will serve as host to MacMurray College, Webster University, and Westminster College for the 2019 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament. Greenville will host all three tournament matches beginning with their match against #4 seed MacMurray at 2 p.m. That will be followed by #2 Westminster against #3 Webster at 4 p.m. and the day will conclude with the SLIAC Championship match at 7 p.m.
Greenville comes into the tournament red-hot, having won 12 straight matches; putting together a 22-7 overall record and a 17-1 mark. The Panthers are 9-0 at home this season and were the top offensive team in the leauge, hitting .221 as a team and averaging 12.91 kills per set. The net defense was also the league's best, totaling 178 blocks this year. Both of those categories are buoyed by middle blocker Anna Finch. Finch, a junior, hit .428 with 248 kills and 76 total blocks this season. Jasmin Smith has fit right into the Panther lineup in her first-season with the team, totaling 243 kills and 374 digs. Greenville continues their powerful attack with four more players recording over 100 kills this season. Joinin Finch at the net and providing a strong wall of defense are Emily Stahl (60 blocks) and Maci Bonacorsi (48 blocks), who also two of the four that have over 100 kills. Kaitlin Murphy and Jordan Lempa rotate as the team's setter while Chasity Hill leads the team with 4.08 digs per set.
WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME WATCHING FILM AND OUR BLOCKERS LEARN A VARIETY OF SCHEMES THAT GIVE US THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO SCORE. I AM VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE PHIL DAVIS AS AN ASSISTANT COACH HE WAS FORMALLY OUR MEN’S HEAD COACH AND WAS A MIDDLE BLOCKER HIMSELF. HIS IMPACT ON OUR PROGRAM HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT ESPECIALLY IN REGARD TO HOW WE APPROACH BLOCKING." - GREENVILLE HEAD COACH TOM ACKERMAN
Westminster brings a 17-8 overall record into the tournament, going 15-3 in SLIAC play. The Blue Jays are hitting .184 as a team and average 12.43 kills per set. When the Blue Jays are on the attack look for either Ashley Kistaitis or Eryka Wanyonyi. Kistaitis returned this year after missing last season and didn't miss a beat. She totaled 321 kills and 244 digs this season while leading the team with 28 aces. Wanyonyi is a freshman that jumped right into the rotation, recording 245 kills and 303 digs this season. Natalie Needy and Sarah Rivers are a pair of middle blockers that keep teams honest down the pipe and have combined for 79 blocks this season. Teresa Becker is one of the leaders of the team and that is important as the team's setter, averaging 9.10 assists per set. Erica Schrader leads the team with 4.61 digs per set.
Ashley came back with a lot of excitement and fire after not being able to compete her last year. Eryka, as a Freshman, has nothing to lose and is ready to go after it. They push each other every day in practice and that helped them to grow and become a strong combo for us." - Westminster college head coach natalia koryzna
Webster brings a 17-10 overall and 14-4 SLIAC record into the weekend. They have won five straight and are balanced with 6 home wins, 6 road wins, and 5 neutral wins this season. The Gorloks are averaging 12.20 kills per set and hitting .178 as a team while leading the SLIAC with 21.42 digs per set. Webster has a deep stable of hitters with three players totaling over 200 kills and a fourth at 159 kills. Freshman Lauren Borik leads the team with 286 kills while junior transfer Jordan Price is second with 238 kills. Both players are also one-two on the team in hitting percentage with Price leading the way with a .304 mark. Samantha Kruse is an experienced outside hitter that has totaled 223 kills and 290 digs with 32 aces this season. Kristen Farrah is on the nation's top liberos, averaging 6.71 digs per set while Jenna Rodriguez leads the team with 442 assists.
We were excited to add both Lauren and Jordan Price (JP) to our roster this season. JP is a dynamic player with great athleticism and we love the energy she brings to our team. Lauren is a talented attacker that can be a force at the net and she continues to develop her game overall. We are fortunate to have both these players in our program." - WEBSTER UNIVERSITY HEAD COACH MERRY GRAF
MacMurray is making their first trip to the postseason since 2005. The Highlanders went 17-15 during the regular season with a 12-6 SLIAC record. They are hitting .193 as a team, averaging 11.74 kills per set and ranked 1st in digs and 2nd in total blocks. Kamryn Flesner is the focal point of the offense, with a program record 497 kills this season. She also has 262 digs, 46 blocks, and a team leading 42 aces. There is more depth behind her in the form of Olivia Wall (258 kills) and four other players with triple digit kills. Gretchen Durbala leads the team with 641 assists while libero Carissa Smith has helped elevate the team's defense and leads all players with 676 digs.
At the beginning of the year, we set team goals for the season. Making it to the conference tournament was one of them so to say this team is excited to be in the tournament is an understatement. I would use words like happy, elated, jacked, hyped, etc. Former Coach Daneille Doerfler left a great foundation to build from. it was just a matter of putting the puzzle together for success. We have had several players off the bench make contributions to winning matches. Assistant Coach, Dalton Tucker has been instrumental in developing top level skill work drills. Making the tournament has truly been a team effort." - macmurray college head coach joana ramsey