Volleyball

Day 1 of SSAC Volleyball Championship Wraps Up

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Day one of the 2026 SSAC Volleyball Championship, presented by Dreamland BBQ, is in the books with top seeds holding serve in all but one game Thursday.

Ninth-seeded Xavier won a five-set thriller over Point to keep their semifinal hopes alive in Pool D, while Pools A, B and C will be decided in Friday morning's pool play finales. If Point defeats William Carey in the Pool D finale, tiebreak sets will be played between the three teams in Pool D to determine who advances to the semifinals.

The final pool play games will be at 9 and 11:30 a.m. tomorrow morning with the semifinals set for a 5:30 p.m. start Friday. Potential tiebreak sets would follow the 11:30 matches.

POOL A
#1 Mobile 3, #12 Wesleyan 0
  • Mobile scored the opening nine points on Emma McPherson's serve, and Eva Blatchford delivered seven first-set kills, including the final two points.
  • Wesleyan cut a 9-3 second-set deficit to 9-7 and later reached 10-8 before Mobile responded with six consecutive points.
  • After third-set ties at 2-2 and 3-3, Mobile turned a 7-5 advantage into 17-5 with a 10-point run.
  • Blatchford finished with 11 kills on .529 hitting; Jolee Ecklund added eight kills and Kaylin Johnson seven without an attack error.
  • McPherson supplied 19 assists, Hannah Ellis added 12 assists and Peyton Frazer recorded five kills and three blocks.
  • Hope Blaylock led Mobile with 10 digs as Mobile finished with 38 kills and eight attack errors.
  • Jamilet Lozada led Wesleyan with four kills, Ella Allison collected nine digs and Illise Quaye supplied seven assists; Wesleyan hit -.107.
  • Wesleyan saved two match points before Lola Mosely's kill, assisted by McPherson, completed the sweep.
#8 Brewton-Parker 3, #12 Wesleyan 0
  • Brewton-Parker totaled 34 kills and 16 aces, while Wesleyan finished with nine kills and a -.125 hitting percentage.
  • Ryann Prince delivered four kills during Brewton-Parker's opening 7-0 run, helping fuel a first set featuring 15 kills and one attack error.
  • Patrycja Kabala, Nicolly Chaves and Prince each finished with six kills for Brewton-Parker, while Daniela Galarza supplied 16 assists.
  • Alana Garcia served three straight second-set aces for 11-4; an Amaya Harris kill and two Jamie Adams aces later trimmed Wesleyan's deficit to 15-9.
  • Kills by Ana Villarreal and Amme Mobley restored an eight-point advantage before Alya Atamer closed the second set with consecutive aces.
  • Wesleyan led 5-4 in the third before Brewton-Parker's nine-point run, including eight points on Abigayle Rowland's serve, established a 13-5 advantage.
  • Villarreal served four aces during a six-point run to 20-7, matching Garcia's match total of four aces.
  • Harris led Wesleyan with three kills, Adams recorded three aces and Ella Allison collected seven digs.
POOL B
#2 Loyola 3, #11 Andrew 0
  • Loyola hit .619 with 43 kills and four attack errors, while Andrew hit .059 with 21 kills.
  • Clarissa Dupree led Loyola with 11 kills on 15 attempts, while Alexa Palmer added eight kills without an error.
  • Ellie Connor supplied 22 assists, Belen Puche Laguna contributed 15 assists and Lola Blancher collected 12 digs for Loyola.
  • Ja'Nyshia Graham and Angelina Chambrey each had six kills for Andrew, Na'Laya Singleton added five and Emily Calhoun delivered 18 assists.
  • Dupree's ace built a 24-10 opening-set lead before Caroline McKinney's kill finished the set after Andrew saved two set points.
  • Andrew tied the second set 6-6 and trailed 11-9 before Olivia Smith's serving helped Loyola score six consecutive points.
  • Isis Harink served two aces for a 5-0 third-set lead; Andrew reached 11-8 before Loyola's later seven-point run made it 20-9.
  • Tyler Alcorn recorded seven kills and three solo blocks, supplying the kills that ended the second and third sets.
#7 Blue Mountain Christian 3, #11 Andrew 0
  • Salice Speed led Blue Mountain Christian with 13 kills on .440 hitting.
  • Marissa Gerleman added nine kills, while Sydney Tague contributed eight assists and five of Blue Mountain Christian's eight service aces.
  • Andrew's Emily Calhoun recorded 14 assists, seven digs and two aces, while Julie Siers collected a match-high 16 digs.
  • Blue Mountain Christian finished with 37 kills and a .281 hitting percentage, compared with Andrew's 17 kills and -.033 hitting.
  • Speed supplied two kills during a six-point opening-set run that turned Blue Mountain Christian's 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 lead.
  • Andrew led 7-2 after Olivia McCollum's ace, but Blue Mountain Christian answered with nine consecutive points to lead 11-7 in the second set.
  • Third-set kills by Zay'Aonna Johnson and Jade Timothy cut Andrew's deficit from 18-14 to 18-16.
  • Blue Mountain Christian scored the final seven points, with Tague's fifth ace setting up match point and Gerleman's kill from Tague completing the sweep.
POOL C
#3 Life 3, #10 Faulkner 0
  • Faulkner trimmed a 20-15 first-set deficit to 23-22 before Medney Garraux secured the set with a kill and an ace.
  • Life won eight of the second set’s final nine points after Faulkner closed to 17-14, finishing on Paola Vega’s kill.
  • Life established a 10-3 third-set lead and completed the sweep on Taelynn Epple’s kill.
  • Garraux led Life with 10 kills, four aces and seven digs.
  • Kya Colston added seven kills while hitting .429, and Vega matched that kill total while hitting .364.
  • Vitoria Reis supplied 17 assists for Life, and Emily Warner added 16.
  • Jakaya Smith paced Faulkner with seven kills and seven digs; Olivia Kelly contributed nine assists and a match-high 11 digs.
  • Life led 39-19 in kills, 12-2 in aces and .186-.012 in hitting percentage; both teams recorded four blocks.
#6 UT Southern 3, #10 Faulkner 1
  • UT Southern survived two opening-set points before Meloise Aureyre's kill and a Faulkner attack error secured the 30-28 victory.
  • Faulkner erased a 17-15 deficit with seven straight points, including three Jaylyn Strength aces; Jakaya Smith's kill clinched the second set.
  • UT Southern overcame an 8-5 deficit in the third set and scored the final five points to take a 2-1 match lead.
  • Strength's four consecutive aces helped Faulkner lead 9-2 in the fourth; UT Southern rallied to 13-13 before Faulkner later regained a 17-16 edge.
  • Caroline Sticker's kill saved one match point before Amree Patterson finished the match with a kill assisted by Emma Harding.
  • Ashlee Kraft and Emma Beardsley led UT Southern with 13 kills apiece, adding 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
  • Jelleny Mallozzi supplied 38 assists, 16 digs and three aces, while Patterson contributed seven kills and eight total blocks.
  • Riley Deem led Faulkner with 13 kills; Strength recorded eight aces and 10 digs; Olivia Kelly added 25 assists and 10 digs.
POOL D
#4 William Carey 3, #9 Xavier 1
  • Kennedy Campbell recorded 11 kills, including the first-set winner after Xavier's six-point run turned a 19-15 deficit into a 21-19 lead.
  • After Xavier tied Set 2 at 22-22, Alejandra Villarreal delivered a kill and ace before Maurin Reyes secured the 25-23 victory.
  • William Carey's six-point run created a 14-7 third-set lead before five-point runs built fourth-set advantages of 5-1 and 22-10.
  • Rachel Stegall led William Carey with 15 kills, while Gabriela Martensson added 14 kills on .522 hitting.
  • Villarreal finished with 11 kills, putting away an assist from Emily Martin for the match-winning point.
  • Eduarda Bicalho supplied 23 assists, Martin contributed 21 assists and 10 digs, and Evelyn Araujo collected 19 digs.
  • Xavier's Kamrynn Williams finished with 17 assists and 10 digs, while Michaela Clayton recorded 16 digs.
  • William Carey outhit Xavier .281 to .089 and led 55-35 in kills, 61-48 in digs and 11-8 in blocks.
#9 Xavier 3, #5 Point 2
  • Point overcame deficits of 14-12 in the first set and 22-19 in the second, securing a 2-0 lead on Marley Manning’s kill.
  • Kamea Uitenham led Xavier with 18 kills on .295 hitting, including 10 in the third set after Xavier’s 6-0 start.
  • Point trimmed Xavier’s fourth-set lead from 21-16 to 21-19 before Xavier won four of the final five rallies to force a decider.
  • Charlie Henderson contributed 12 kills and six aces, opening the fifth set with three consecutive aces.
  • Point erased an 11-6 fifth-set deficit on Amira Meggett’s kill, but Henderson’s kill broke a later 12-12 tie and put Xavier ahead for good.
  • Kennedy Campbell recorded 12 kills, including the match-winner off an assist from Kamrynn Williams, who finished with 26 assists.
  • Manning had 16 kills and 16 digs; Tianna Kynard added 13 kills and Danielle Coker supplied 11 on .409 hitting for Point.
  • Point’s Chloe Painter totaled 47 assists and 10 digs, while Xavier’s Lauryn Matthews recorded five solo blocks and one block assist.