The Bruins rushed the court in celebration after the team swept #4 Johnson University (TN) 3-0 to capture their fourth-straight NCCAA DII National Championship. The team overcame many challenges throughout the tournament, but had several players step up to win yet another national title.
"What a great way to end our season," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "These girls stepped up big in the past two weeks and we thank God for showing favor on our team. This will always be a special national title because of what God did in us and for us. He gets the glory!"
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of a dominant performance in the semifinal as they swept #2 Manhattan Christian College. In the championship, the Bruins would face #4 Johnson University (TN) who had just defeated BJU 3-1 in the pool play round at the national tournament.
The Royals came into the championship having not lost the entirety of the tournament. They advanced to the championship after a 3-0 sweep of #6 Pensacola Christian College in the semifinal match. A national champion would be crowned at the end of the day as the Bruins and Royals took the court for their fourth meeting this season.
In the opening set, the Royals took an early 4-1 lead thanks to kills from Harley Shumaker and Kaitlyn Wilkerson. The Bruins came right back eventually tying the set at 6-6 with kills from Camila Silva and Arielle Henkel.
The Bruins kept up their momentum as they went on to score four-straight points and take a 10-7 lead forcing the Royals to call timeout. That timeout worked as the Royals rallied to climb all the way back and tie the set at 13-13.
From there, the Bruins caught fire as the team went on an 11-1 run thanks to three kills from Camila Silva. The Bruins then finished off the set 25-15 as Kayla Oberstar hammered down the kill for the win.
The Bruins carried their momentum into the second set as the team jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The Royals refused to back down as they roared back to take a 9-7 lead. Maddie Reaves and Harley Shumaker kept finding holes in the Bruins defense which allowed the Royals to push their lead to 15-10.
It looked as though the Royals were running away with the set, but the Bruins clawed their way back behind kills from Emma Riddle and Camila Silva to tie the set at 17-17. The Royals again built a slim lead as they got kills from Emma Hannaford and Harley Shumaker to make it 21-18.
The Bruins responded with four-straight points as Arielle Henkel and Kayla Oberstar each made kills to give the Bruins a 22-21 lead. The Bruins were then able to finish off set two and take a 2-0 lead in the match as Emma Riddle made a kill to help the team win 25-23.
One set stood between the Bruins and their fourth-straight championship and the Royals didn't want to let that happen as they took an early 7-4 lead. The Bruins then responded with a 10-1 run behind kills from Silva, Henkel, and Oberstar as well as an ace from Silva to lead 14-8.
The Bruins had grabbed momentum but the Royals took it right back with a run of their own as they stormed back to tie the set 15-15. Back and forth the two teams went before Timbre Cruz made two-straight kills for the Bruins to help the team lead 20-16.
Again, the Royals refused to back down as the team scored five-straight points to lead 21-20. Harley Shumaker would make a kill for the Royals before Timbre Cruz added one for the Bruins with the score tying at 22-22.
From there, back to back errors on the Royals gave match point to the Bruins. Jensen Davis made a kill to keep the Royals alive but Camila Silva hammered down a kill to win the set 25-23 and the national title.
"This isn't the way any of us planned on winning this year," All-American Victoria Glaze said. Glaze served as the captain of this year's team and had been injured in the previous Johnson (TN) match forcing her to sit out the remainder of the national tournament. "God is sovereign and each one of our players showed so much maturity, determination and teamwork. Our theme this year has been 'knit together in Christ' and you could see that on display in this tournament."
Kayla Oberstar led the Bruins with a double-double 14 kills and 15 digs while Camila Silva had 9 kills to go along with 2 solo blocks and 2 block assists. Victoria Glaze was named to the All-Tournament team while freshman Camila Silva was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The Bruins battled through a difficult season schedule and faced adversity after being upset in the South Region championship. Still, despite the setbacks the Bruins persevered as they once again are atop the NCCAA as Division II national champions.
