Kyra Robinson and Simone Brown named to All-Tournament Team.
The long road to the Detroit, MI suburb of Rochester Hills added to the high level of USCAA competition proved too much for the Mountaineers this weekend. Berea qualified for the tournament's championship game, but fell in three of the four matches they played this weekend.
Friday, September 12 - Carlow University
In the tournaments open round, the Mountaineer cruised through the first two sets versus their former KIAC rival Carlow University; then the trouble began. Using it is trade mark high powered offense and massive block, Berea jumped out to a quick 25-14, 25-12 lead on the Celtics. Set 3 proved to be problematic as the Blue Crew let down their guard and Carlow crept back in to the match. What ensued was a back and forth contest that went Carlow's way in set three 23-25 and back Berea's way 25-23 in the fourth and what would be final stanza.
Berea was led offensively by the middle hitting tandem of junior Kyra Robinson and sophomore Simone Brown. They each registered 11 kills, with Brown going error free and hitting a .423. Defensively, junior Nicole Brown carried the burden picking up 21 Celtic shots to lead the team in digs.
Friday, September 12 – Rochester College
Be it the effects of the long drive earlier in the day, a grueling match with Carlow or a combination of the two – the Mountaineers had no answers for the tournament hosts, falling in straight sets 25-21, 25-23 and 25-14. Kyra Robinson again led the way for Berea knocking down 9 kills and hitting .400 in the match.
Saturday, September 13 – Penn State – Fayette
With a 1-1 record, Berea awoke Saturday morning confident in where the day would take them. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as the six-time Penn State University Athletic Conference champions of Penn State-Fayette took it to the Mountaineers winning the first two sets 25-19, and 28-26. The Blue Crew stopped the bleeding momentarily in the third and fourth sets winning 25-21 and 25-15 to force the pivotal fifth set. The Roaring Lions jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead and never looked back winning 15-10 to win the match.
Berea College was again led by Kyra Robinson and Simone Brown who were nearly unstoppable in the middle of the Berea College attack. The "terrible twosome" had 19 and 15 kills respectively, while Taylor Ashworth led the defensive charge with 17 digs.
Championship Game – Rochester College
Despite its 1-2 record in the tournament, Berea had done enough to advance to the Rochester College Classic championship game. This match-up with the Warriors would be much different than the first as Berea College answered Rochester kill for kill and point for point in the first set, before losing 27-25. The Mountaineers steam rolled the Warriors in set two 25-13, but couldn't maintain the momentum, falling 25-19 and 25-16 in the third and fourth sets to end the weekend with a record of 1-3.
As had been the case the entire weekend, middle hitters Kyra Robinson and Simone Brown again led the way offensively for the Blue Crew, putting down 12 and 11 kills respectively. Their play over the weekend did not go unnoticed as both were selected to the All-Tournament team in recognition of their performances.
The volleyball team will be back in action on Thursday, when they host former KIAC Rival, Asbury College on Thursday at 7:00 pm in Seabury Gymnasium.
