Volleyball

Semifinals Set For Friday Evening in SSAC Volleyball Championship

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The four teams that will compete for the SSAC Volleyball Championship, presented by Dreamland BBQ, are set and will compete at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening for a spot in Saturday afternoon's championship match.

No. 1 seed Mobile, No. 2 seed Loyola, No. 3 seed Life and No. 4 seed William Carey won their respective pools Friday to advance to the semifinal round. Mobile will take on William Carey, while Loyola and Life will be the other semifinal.

POOL A
Mobile 3, Brewton-Parker 0
  • Mobile erased an 8-7 first-set deficit with five straight points before Patrycja Kabala’s ace brought Brewton-Parker within 14-13.
  • Eva Blatchford finished the 25-19 opener; Mobile used seven straight points and a six-point closing run to take the second 25-10.
  • Mobile led 16-5 and 23-6 in the third before Kabala’s service error sealed the 25-10 finish.
  • Blatchford recorded 16 kills and hit .464, Kaylin Johnson added 10 kills and Emma Hampton converted all six attack attempts into kills.
  • Hannah Ellis and Emma McPherson supplied 19 assists apiece for Mobile, while Hope Blaylock collected 12 digs and two aces.
  • Kabala led Brewton-Parker with nine kills and two aces, while Nicolly Chaves added five kills.
  • Daniela Galarza distributed 13 assists for the Barons, and Lizdaryss Bermudez recorded six digs.
  • Mobile hit .478 and led 41-24 in kills, finishing with a .765 third-set hitting percentage and no attack errors.
POOL B
Loyola 3, Blue Mountain 1
  • Lola Blancher's consecutive aces sparked Loyola's opening 5-0 run; Blue Mountain Christian rallied from 19-12 to 19-16 before falling 25-19.
  • Blue Mountain Christian's five-point run built a 22-15 second-set lead; Loyola rallied to 22-19 before Salice Speed's set-ending kill.
  • After a 9-9 third-set tie, Loyola scored four straight; Clarissa Dupree's kill off Ellie Connor's assist sealed a 25-20 win.
  • Trailing 17-16 in the fourth, Loyola won seven of eight points before Dupree converted Connor's assist for the match-winning kill.
  • Dupree led Loyola with 14 kills, .343 hitting and 11 digs; Isis Harink added 10 kills and five block assists.
  • Tyler Alcorn totaled nine kills and six blocks; Blancher had 29 digs, Connor 24 assists and Belen Puche Laguna 17 assists.
  • Speed had 12 kills and 13 digs; Marissa Gerleman added 10 kills on .276 hitting, and Abbi Williams had 18 digs.
  • Loyola led 51-42 in kills and .178-.074 in hitting; conference records stood at 14-2 for Loyola and 7-9 for Blue Mountain Christian.
POOL C
Life 3, UT Southern 1
  • Tennessee Southern erased a 20-11 opening-set deficit, closing 10-1 as Emma Beardsley’s kill and Ashley Cope’s ace secured the set.
  • Jadyn Walters capped Life’s second-set comeback from 18-14 down; an eight-point run from 9-9 broke open the third.
  • Meloise Aureyre’s three consecutive kills narrowed the fourth-set deficit to 17-16; Life pulled away from 19-18 and scored the final three points.
  • Kaylee Cantlin led Life with 13 kills and five blocks; Kya Colston added 10 kills, a .421 hitting percentage and seven blocks.
  • Walters finished with 10 kills, while Vitoria Reis supplied 27 assists and 12 digs for Life.
  • Aureyre and Beardsley each recorded 14 kills for Tennessee Southern; Aureyre added three aces, while Beardsley collected 11 digs.
  • Jelleny Mallozzi contributed 36 assists and 10 digs, while Ashlee Kraft finished with 10 kills and 18 digs.
  • Life outhit Tennessee Southern .264 to .123 and held a 57-49 advantage in kills.
POOL D
William Carey 3, Point 0
  • Point opened 4-0 before William Carey surged ahead 10-5 and 18-11; Reagan Ziegler’s ace sealed the opening set.
  • Point rallied from 20-8 to 24-23, capped by Danielle Coker and Marley Manning’s block, before an attack error ended the second set.
  • Point erased a 12-6 third-set deficit, took a 19-18 lead and moved ahead 22-20 before William Carey called timeout.
  • Eduarda Bicalho assisted five closing kills: Rachel Stegall, Alejandra Villarreal twice, Gabriela Martensson and Agnes Hegardt, who delivered the winner.
  • Villarreal led William Carey with 13 kills, while Stegall contributed 11 kills and three aces.
  • Evelyn Araujo collected 20 digs and three aces for William Carey, and Bicalho finished with 18 assists.
  • Jasmyn Ceasar led Point with nine kills on 18 error-free attempts and nine digs; Tianna Kynard added eight kills.
  • Point’s Chloe Painter supplied 25 assists and nine digs, while Megan Crocker recorded 13 digs and eight assists.