Griffins End Drought, 2022 Volleyball Champs

Fontbonne University ended the programs championship drought with a 3-1 win over Westminster College in the 2022 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball championship match. The win gives Fontbonne its 6th SLIAC title in program history and its first since 2005, ending the longest drought in conference history between volleyball championships. 

The Griffins, fresh off a sweep of Webster University in their semifinal match, kept their attack going in the championship's opening set; taking a 6-1 lead. The Griffins took advantage of three straight Blue Jay errors including putting up a double block by Kristen Kaempfe and Jackie Drury. Kaempfe started another three-point run for the Griffins with Emma Pramik picking up back-to-back aces. 

The Blue Jays closed the score to 22-20 but Kaempfe again started another three-point run with a kill. Drury brought her team within a point of a win and Kiya Kolb secured that win with an ace to end the first set.

In the second set, it was the Blue Jays taking advantage of the Griffins' miscues. Westminster opened up a 13-5 lead and didn't look back as Fontbonne hit -.179 in the set with 7 kills and 14 errors. The Blue Jays cruised to a 25-12 victory as the Griffins had five straight attack errors to close out the set.

Westminster carried that momentum into the third set, taking a 10-5 lead with Malena Bixby putting down four kills during the run. A timeout from Fontbonne head coach Jimmy Stika did its purpose, stopping the Blue Jay run and leading to two straight Griffin points. But Westminster regrouped, taking a 17-11 lead after a Bixby ace before Stika went with his second timeout of the set.

This time the Griffins sustained their run, with four straight points to bring the score to 17-15. Down 20-19, a service error drew the score even and gave serve back to the Griffins. After a Blue Jay attack error, Griffin setter Ella Werner-Click caught the defense off guard and dropped the ball in for a kill and two-point lead. The Blue Jays held serve, down one point, but Kaempfe ended the set with a kill for a 25-23 Griffin win.

The fourth set was controlled by Fontbonne, who hit a match-high .195 while Westminster hit a match-low .024. Fontbonne led 14-12 when they rolled off six straight points. Kaempfe brought the Griffins to within one point of the title and the Griffins would celebrate moments later after a bad set by the Blue Jays, winning 25-19.

Kaempfe and Hannah Gallager tied for the team lead for Fontbonne with 12 kills while Ella Werner-Click was named the Tournament MVP after recording 34 assists and 24 digs. Westminster was led by Malena Bixby with 14 kills. 

Fontbonne will be making its first NCAA Division III National Tournament appearance since 2005. The tournament field will be announced this Monday.

- #SLIACtion -