The top-seeded Bruins saw their championship hopes dashed on Saturday as the team was upset by #2 seeded Pensacola Christian College 3-1 in the NCCAA DII South Region Championship in Toccoa, Georgia.
"Pensacola came ready to play today and they earned the banner," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "It was a tough loss for us but hope we can grow and become a better team."
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of defeating #4 Toccoa Falls College in the semifinal on Friday night. The team rallied after falling behind 1-0 to win three straight sets and advance to their sixth-straight region title game.
Pensacola came into the championship after defeating #3 Johnson University (FL) 3-0 in the semifinal. The Bruins and Eagles had met three times this season with the Bruins winning 3-0 in each of those matchups. A region title was on the line as the two teams took the court.
In the opening set, the Eagles took an early 4-1 lead thanks to kills rom Victoria Hamilton and Hannah Dorow. The Bruins responded with three-straight points and went on a short run to take an 8-6 advantage. The two teams went back and forth before a kill from Timbre Cruz sparked a four-point run for the Bruins as the team led 19-18. From there, the Eagles caught fire as the team went on an incredible 7-0 run to win the opening set 25-19.
The Eagles carried the momentum into set two as back to back kills from Hannah Dorow helped PCC jump out to a 5-0 lead. The Bruins tried to battle back but the Eagles continued to pick apart the Bruin defense with kills as they extended their lead 12-2.
The Bruins then went on 9-0 run thanks to kills from Camila Silva and a pair of aces from Rachel Pattisall as they battled back to trail 12-11. The Eagles continued to maintain a slim lead as the score remained close eventually tying at 21-21.
From there, the Eagles scored back to back points and the Bruins answered right back with a pair of points to tie 23-23. The score would tie three more times before the Bruins were able to get a big kill from Emma Riddle and an ace from Hannah Prince as the team battled back to win set two 28-26 and even the match 1-1.
With the match even, the Bruins looked to take the lead as Katelyn Landkrohn recorded back to back aces to help the team lead 6-4. Again, the Eagles continued to battle and keep the score close eventually taking a 15-12 lead. Errors plagued the Bruins in the late stages of set three allowing the Eagles to push their lead and eventually win the set 25-16.
The Bruins had their backs against the wall as they trailed 2-1 going into the fourth set. The Eagles could smell the victory and it showed as the team again jumped out to an early 4-1 lead over BJU. The Bruins battled back as Victoria Glaze made a kill and Rachel Pattisall recorded an ace to help the team tie the set at 8-8.
Back and forth the two teams went exchanging points and the lead. Camila Silva made a big kill for the Bruins to tie the set at 16-16 as the Bruins looked to force a fifth and final set. Instead, the Eagles came right back scoring three points off three-straight kills from Hannah Dorow as the lead 20-18.
Camila Silva made two kills for the Bruins as the team trailed 23-21, but the Eagles wouldn't be denied as Hannah Dorow made her 15th kill of the match to finish off the Bruins 25-22 and the match 3-1.
"We really haven't been pushed much this season so when it happened, we just didn't respond well to the pressure," Coach Denny said.
Victoria Glaze led the Bruins with a double-double 12 kills and 14 digs while Camila Silva finished with 10 kills in the loss. Four players recorded double-digit kills for the Bruins with Katelyn Landkrohn leading the way with 17 digs in the match.
The Bruins came into the championship match having won five-straight NCCAA DII South Region championships, but the team came up short in their pursuit of a sixth.
The Bruins were ranked #1 all season long in the national rankings and were among the top two seeds in the power ranking throughout the year. The team will now await the decision of the NCCAA championship committee to see if their receive an at-large bid to compete in the DII national tournament in Kissimmee, Florida.
