BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Spring Hill Badgers volleyball team made history on Wednesday, earning its first-ever berth into the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship after a 3-1 victory over Kentucky State.
 
The Badgers took advantage of their first year of postseason eligibility in both the SIAC and the NCAA, sweeping their way through the conference tournament and finally knocking off a three-time SIAC champ Kentucky State in the finals.
 
"I think the finals of the SIAC were exactly what you hope they would be – a hard-fought, every-point-matters battle between two good teams. For Kentucky State, their effort was awesome and we had to match them point-for-point and play-for-play," said Spring Hill head coach Peggy Martin.
 
Nerves seemed to be getting to the Badgers in the early going of the contest. Spring Hill dropped the opening set of the game 25-23, breathing life into Kentucky State's team who had fought back through the loser's bracket to reach the finals.
 
However, the Badgers would roar back in the second stanza, evening the match at one set each after a 25-19 victory. From there it was all Spring Hill as the Badgers grabbed the third set 25-17 and rode that momentum into a decisive 25-12 win in the fourth and deciding set.
 
"I expected we'd come out nervous because we had never played in something this high stakes before," said junior setter Emmarose Neibert.
 
She continued, "We've never played in a conference championship [before]. We had to gather back into the mindset that [Kentucky State] wants this as much as we do and we have to want it more."
 
Spring Hill's Kassandra Fairly was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Cassidi Sterrett and Allison Weimer were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Martin was tabbed Coach of the Tournament.
 
The Badgers, ranked #9 in the South Region, now await tournament pairings.