DUBUQUE, Iowa – Senior Kiersten Baker earned all-tournament honors as the Briar Cliff University volleyball team (3-3) came away with a split, Saturday at the Kehl Center. The Chargers beat Calumet College (0-4) 3-1 (25-8, 25-8, 23-25, 25-18) and lost 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 26-28, 25-14) to UM-Dearborn (4-0). This was the final day of the Clarke Invitational.
Calumet College – W, 3-1 (25-8, 25-8, 23-25, 25-18)
In the first set, Briar Cliff came out of the gate on fire. The Chargers went up 7-1 and were off and running.
In the second set, Calumet College took an early 4-2 lead. After a Crimson Wave serve error, junior Avery Beller served up 10 straight points to seal the set.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle the entire way. Down 24-22, sophomore Aliyah Basham smashed the ball to the floor to make it 24-23. CC forced BCU into an error to stay alive in the match.
The fourth set looked more like Calumet College and Briar Cliff were riding a roller coaster. The Chargers scored the first five points and were up 8-3.
The Crimson Wave took their turn with a 4-1 burst to close to 9-7. BCU rolled out a 4-1 run of its own to make it 13-8. CC scored three in a row to cut the gap to two, 13-11. Junior Isabelle Lenz found the back corner on a spike to start a run of six straight points to seal the match.
For Briar Cliff, Baker had 10 kills, seven block assists and hit .526 while Basham had 10 kills and three block assists. Beller collected 20 digs with senior Olivia Corey adding 14.
The Chargers had 20 aces with six players having at least two. Leading the way was senior Taryn Nothem with five and Beller at four. For the second straight match, BCU held their opponent to a negative percentage as the Crimson Wave hit -.008. Briar Cliff finished with 21 block assists.
For Calumet College, Berta Comino Couceir had 14 digs.
Briar Cliff Head Coach Lindsey Weatherford
“Kiersten (Baker) was the picture of consistency. She terminated at a high rate and on the defensive side, was able to get in front of hitters and put up a solid block. Avery (Beller) and Taryn (Nothem) served lights out combining for nine aces. That set the tone for the rest of our servers as we finished with 20 aces for the match. We were aggressive defensively at the net. We had 21 block assists and we pressured them into numerous hitting errors which lead to their negative hitting percentage.”
UM-Dearborn – L, 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 26-28, 25-14)
In the first set, Briar Cliff and UM-Dearborn played on even terms early on. Up 6-5, the Wolverines reeled off an 11-6 run to lead 17-11.
The Chargers began to chip away. Senior Natalie Hughes dropped in an ace to tie the match at 23-23. UMD got back-to-back kills to finish the set.
In the second set, BCU got to an early 12-7 lead. UM-Dearborn began to creep back in and tied the match at 18-18.
The Wolverines looked to be in control at 22-20. Nothem fired up a kill, then Baker and Lenz stuffed the UMD hitter to even it at 22. UM-Dearborn picked up three in a row to go up 2-0.
The third set was an absolute battle the whole way. Down 24-23, Briar Cliff fought off two match points. Facing another match point at 26-25, sophomore Emma Brenelli blasted away to tie it up once again. A kill from Brenelli and an ace from Hughes made it 28-26, Chargers.
In the fourth set, the Wolverines scored the first four points. BCU fought back and Hughes recorded yet another ace to close the gap to 7-6. UMD went on an 8-4 run to effectively end the match.
For Briar Cliff, Brenelli had 14 kills and hit .273. Defensively, Beller had 17 digs, her seventh straight double-digit dig match and the Chargers had 18 block assists led by Baker with seven. Hughes served up nine aces, tied for second most in school history.
For the weekend, Baker hit .300 and recorded 23 block assists over 16 set for 1.44 per game.
For UM-Dearborn, Kielee Tondryk had 27 kills and hit .500 while Kenzie Mertz had 32 digs.
Weatherford
“We had already played 12 sets coming into the match against UM-Dearborn. With every point in the match being contested, it made for a physically tiring encounter. Olivia (Corey) worked hard to put her hitters in a position to be successful. Natalie’s (Hughes) serve was too much to handle for most of the match. Overall I’m very proud of the way our team handled themselves and battled through adversity. This experience is going to benefit us throughout the rest of the season.”
Briar Cliff makes the short trip to North Sioux City, S.D., Friday, Aug. 30 to take on Mayville State and Valley City State. The matches are scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively.
