HOOVER, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) court volleyball team finished play at the 2019 NCAA Division II South Regional Crossover on Saturday with a come-from-behind rally to defeat the University of West Alabama (UWA) Tigers 3-2 (16-25, 16-25, 25-16, 25-11, 17-15) in the morning match and followed it with a 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18) decision over the Shorter University Hawks in the Finley Center at the Hoover Met Complex.
SHC found itself down 2-0 after the first two sets ended in identical 25-16 wins for the Tigers (7-16), but the Badgers regrouped to take their own 25-16 victory in the 3
rd set and dominated the 4
th frame 25-11. In the 5
th and deciding set, Spring Hill trailed 10-7 only to rally again and tie the score 11-11 before clawing out a thrilling 17-15 win with senior setter
Emmarose Neibert of Arnold, Mo., feeding sophomore middle hitter
Kassandra Fairly of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for the final kill.
As a team, the Badgers managed a .128 (58-34-187) attack percentage with eight aces as the UWA defense earned 85 digs and eight blocks. The SHC defense held the Tigers to a .135 (47-24-170) attack percentage with six aces while corralling 90 digs with eight blocks.
Individually, Fairly had 18 kills and junior right side hitter
Bentley Odom of Mobile, Ala., had 13 kills. Neibert distributed 48 assists with 16 digs while senior libero
Cassidi Sterrett of Lee's Summit, Mo., had 28 digs. Junior outside hitter
Allison Weimer of Covington, La., had a match-high four blocks in the marathon.
Versus the Hawks (7-15), SHC held a .185 (38-15-124) attack percentage with six aces while Shorter's defense pulled in 63 digs with two blocks. The Badger defense limited the Hawks to a .167 (57-32-150) attack percentage and three aces at the same time collecting 49 digs and seven blocks.
Weimer led the charge with 16 kills, Fairly served two aces with three blocks as Neibert earned 17 assists and Sterrett added 16 assists to the SHC totals.
The Badgers (26-4) return home to the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center to face the Pensacola Christian College Eagles (8-15) in a non-conference match at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
