CLEVELAND, Ga. (Mar. 20, 2021) – After recording four consecutive sweeps to open the spring season, the Truett McConnell University women's volleyball team suffered two back-to-back sweeps to the undefeated No. 15 Keiser University Seahawks inside the TMU Volleyball/Wrestling Arena on Saturday afternoon, which concludes the regular season. The Lady Bears finished with a record of 18-7, 14-5 AAC, while the Seahawks improved to 35-0 to stay perfect.
MATCH ONE (8-25, 24-26, 19-25)
The Seahawks came out from the start opening up the first set on a 12-3 scoring run. Keiser proved their dominance recording 16 kills, in comparison to TMU's five, to win their first set of the day by 17. The Lady Bears, however, showed their grit in game two. Both teams were neck and neck throughout the entire set with TMU leading by as much as three, but in the end, the Seahawks closed on 3-0 run, which included two TMU errors. Game three was much like the second game as both teams were back and forth with a tied score at 16-16, but Keiser went on two key 4-0 runs to clinch their first sweep, 28th total, of the day.
LEADERS
Ranavia Neal led offensively with 10 kills, while fellow middle blocker Jordan Roberts followed with nine. Neal also led with five blocks, while Katie Williamson and Abby Maxwell followed with two apiece. Maxwell recorded 23 assists with five digs, while Hannah Conners led with seven digs. Freshman Sonya Silecky added five digs, while Madyson Dunn and Rachel Kessler had four apiece. Roberts also led with two service aces.
MATCH TWO (9-25, 14-25, 21-25)
Keiser carried over the momentum into the second match as they opened up the first set on a 20-7 run, which proved too big of a hole for the Lady Bears to dig out of. TMU picked up the pace in the second game as TMU trailed by no more than one until Keiser had three unanswered kills and the Lady Bears were unable to catch back up as the Seahawks closed set two on a 6-1 run. Most notable in game three, the Lady Bears fell behind by four but tied it back up 17-17 to be right on Keiser's toes the rest of the way. The Seahawks, nonetheless, ultimately clinched their second sweep of the day over the Lady Bears with three back-to-back kills.
LEADERS
Roberts led the Lady Bears with eight kills and two solo blocks. Silecky and Neal each added five kills, while Williamson had three. Conners led defensively with 10 digs, while Dunn followed with eighth, Maxwell had seven and Silecky had six. Maxwell was also credited a total of 19 assists.
UP NEXT
The No. 3-seeded Lady Bears will look to compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday, March 25 – Thursday, March 26, in Kingsport, Tennessee, at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
