Vikings sweep conference’s leading awards
The Berry volleyball team that won the Southern Athletic Association Championship last weekend and begins the NCAA Division III Championship tournament on Thursday, added to its list of SAA laurels Wednesday when the Vikings swept the conference’s top postseason honors and landed seven players on the ALL-SAA team.
Junior setter Emily Rapach was selected as the SAA Player of the Year, senior libero Laura Beier was the SAA Defensive Player of the year for the third straight season, freshman middle blocker Cypress Guenther was the SAA Newcomer of the Year and head coach Caitlyn Moriarty was the SAA Coach of the Year.
Joining Rapach and Beier as ALL-SAA First Team selections were three more Vikings – junior outside hitter Molly Bergin, junior outside hitter Peyton Breissinger, and sophomore
outside hitter and conference tournament MVP Jazzy Innis, who was picked as an at-larger member of the First Team.
Guenther was named to the ALL-SAA Second Team and sophomore middle blocker Olivia Mallow was an Honorable Mention All-conference selection.
The No. 12-ranked Vikings will open the NCAA Division III Championship tournament taking on Transylvania University at 3 p.m. Thursday in Atlanta at Emory, which is hosting the Atlanta Regional.
Berry is riding a 10-game win streak that has included straight-set
wins over No. 13 Emory, which defeated the Vikings in five sets at Berry, and rival Birminghamsouthern — Berry’s only other regular-season loss came to the Panthers — in the SAA Championship on Sunday.
Earning spots on the SAA Alltournament team were Brier, Breissinger and Jazzy Innis, while Rapach recorded her 2,000th career assist.
“The team is very hungry and confident right now,” Moriarty said. “I was proud of their energy and mental toughness during the SAA tournament — they embraced the target on their backs and instilled trust and confidence in one another.
“The SAA tournament is great preparation for the strong competition we will face at the NCAA tournament this weekend,” the coach added. “These are the opportunities we work so hard for. I’m inspired by our team’s will and focus right now — I can’t wait for Thursday’s match”
In the other regional openers Thursday at Emory, No. 14 Southwestern (Texas) and Washington & Lee play at 12:30 p.m., Christopher Newport and Texas-dallas meet at 5:30 p.m., and Emory plays Southern Virginia at 8 p.m.
The winners of the first two matches return to the court Friday playing at 4:30 p.m., and at 7 p.m. on Friday the winners of the second pair of openers play at 7 p.m. The regional championship will be decided on Saturday at 7 p.m., with that winner advancing to the final three rounds that takes place Nov. 18-20 in St. Louis.