Berry moves on to NCAA region finals

The volleyball team will face Emory today in the NCAA Division III Regional finals.

The Berry College volleyball team’s season will continue in the NCAA regional finals for the first time in program history after a five-set victory over the Covenant College Scots on Friday night.

After dropping the first two sets (25-18, 25-23), the Vikings completed a reverse sweep to improve to 30-6 on the year, the program’s best record since joining NCAA Divsion III. Berry will now face Emory in the regional final tonight at 7 p.m.

With a 13-10 lead, back-to-back kills from Sprague sealed the Vikings’ win in the fifth and decisive set.

Emily Hancock caught fire in the final three sets, finishing with a program-record 27 kills for a five-set match. She also added 27 digs and hit .418 in the contest. Another highlight for the Vikings was Sarah Sprague coming off the bench. The junior had a career night recording 15 kills and hit .314 to help Berry to a win.

Berry was just edged in set two 25-23, having a much more successful offensive attack.

Set three was a huge momentum swing for Berry. With Berry leading 9-8 in the set, a long battle ended with a kill from Sprauge. The Vikings the won 10 of the next 12 points to hold a 20-10 advantage and force a fourth set.

Berry libero Elizabeth Ragland finished with 31 digs in the match with many coming in the later sets. The Vikings held on 25-20 in the fourth set, and went on to set five for the second straight night.

Berry’s defense held Covenant to a .042 attack percentage in the decisive set, while the Vikings hit .333 as a team.