Top Seeded V-Hawk Top Comets to Advance to NSAA Championship Game

WATERTOWN, S.D. – The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #9 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, earned a 3-0 sweep (28-26, 25-21, 25-17) over Mayville State University (N.D.) in the semifinal round of the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) conference tournament on Friday night. Top ranked Viterbo advances to the Championship game against No. 2 Bellevue (Neb.) on Saturday afternoon, while Mayville's season ends at 17-18 (7-7 NSAA).

NSAA Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year Jada Mitchell put down a solo block early to spark a 6-0 run, including two aces by Adrianna Reinhart (named the Co-Libero of the Year in the NSAA), to put Viterbo up 8-2. Kenzie Winker and Grace Rohde (both First Team All-NSAA recipients) paced the V-Hawks offense while teams alternated points, with Winker's kill bringing the score to 18-12. The Comets started to slowly mount their comeback with small two- and three-point runs, until they took a 25-24 lead. Mitchell tied the game with a kill, then Rohde and Mitchell combined for a block to take the lead. The teams traded errors, and Rohde's kill ended the set 28-26.

Second-Team All-Conference setter Lauryn Sobasky's kill and a Mitchell-Marissa Kleman block helped give Viterbo the earl edge 7-4 in the second set Kenidi McCabe recorded a service ace followed by consecutive Winker kills to extend their lead to 16-10. Mayville would be unable to get any closer than three point s for the rest of the set, and Winker's kill gave Viterbo a 25-21 win.

Mariah Calkins earned a kill and Winker-assisted block early in the third set, but Mayville took an 8-6 lead. Calkins back-to-back kills then tied the game at 11-11, and Kleman's kill gave Viterbo the lead, and started a 7-0 run, with Reinhart's ace bringing the score to 20-13. Mitchell's kills and Mayville errors set up a match point that Rohde put down for the win.

Winker led all players with 13 kills om .312 hitting percentage, Rode recorded 11 at .300, and Mitchell had 10 (.280). Sobasky had a game-high 25 assists, and Cailie Kowal added 14. Reinhart led four V-Hawks in double-digit digs with 20, and Mitchell had seven blocks.

Samantha Passa's 11 kills led the Comets, as did Elora Passa's 21 assists and Natalie Hadrava's 22 digs, Ashley Pyburn also added five blocks.