WINFIELD, Kan. – It was an electric evening inside Stewart Field House on Wednesday night for the final home regular-season match of 2022. The Southwestern College volleyball squad hosted the Avila University Eagles with one goal on their mind, to win. They did not disappoint, putting together three of their best sets of the season to earn a sweep of the visiting squad from Kansas City. The Builders won the match by a 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 final score.

The Moundbuilders were nothing if not consistent in this battle, as they were able to compile at least 15 kills in each of the three stanzas. To begin things, the team struggled early by allowing Avila to score the first five points of the match. Luckily, Southwestern then racked up a match-high 16 kills in the first set, attacking at a highly respectable .222 clip. Only four errors were made by SC in the frame, as well, showing the focus necessary to finish rallies. Meanwhile, Avila attempted to keep up with the Builders, but could not do so. They had 12 kills and seven errors on 49 swings in the set. The 25-20 set victory would set in motion what was yet to come.

Set number two's theme had a similar tone to that of the first stanza, as a 15-to-5 kill/error ratio on offense would put SC in great position to succeed. The Eagles, again, had seven miscues as attackers, while cashing in on 13 of their 59 swings. The Builders' offense hit at .189 for the set, and even though that was a step below their first set performance, they outhit Avila by a steady margin for the second straight period. The final score of the frame was 25-18, as Avila looked to stave off a sweep in the third.

Southwestern would put this game to bed in the third set with their most dominant game of the match. The squad boasted a 15-to-3 kill/error ratio, while only swinging 36 times. The .333 clip on offense was their best showing of the match, and they held Avila to a meager .050 number. Just 11 kills were tallied by Avila, as they committed nine miscues. Closing out the match with another 25-18 set win, the Moundbuilders will enter Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Tournament play with a seeding of no lower than the No. 8 position.

It was an amazing night for the Builders, and that was certainly the case for Jayda Brittenum, as she led the team with a career-high 11 kills. She only swung a total of 16 times in the match, but tallied just a single error and hit at a ridiculous .625 clip for the match. She led the team by far in regard to percentage, but Hannah Weber added 10 kills of her own to the fold, which helped the squad tremendously. Also, Brianna Ede and KaSandra Lyons had seven kills apiece, while Anna Bradley and Daci Stover added five each. For the match, the team hit .238, which showed an element of consistency with the team that had yet to be realized on a consistent basis.

Sierra Norlin and Maela Stevens were about as evenly split as possible in the assist category in this bout, as Norlin picked up 22 assists, while Stevens notched 21 for the tilt. The only other assist in the match was passed out by Sophia Wicker.

Wicker led the team in digs with an outstanding 29 pickups in the match. That number is good for greater than nine digs/set, which is nearly three digs/set higher than any player's average across the NAIA this season. She was followed by Avery Riedel and Weber, who each were able to lift 14 Avila swings off the floor in the battle. Norlin had seven digs, while Stevens (4), Stover (3) and Brittenum (2) also dug up multiple attacks.

The block stood tall in the matchup, racking up 12 block assists and two solo denials. Ede, Bradley and Brittenum had three block assists apiece, while Ede added a solo block to her line. Lyons, Stover and Weber added a block assist each, and Norlin had a solo stop.

With the win at home, the Builders (10-13, 5-6 KCAC) have clinched a home matchup in the KCAC Tournament, as seeds No. 5-No. 8 host the First Round matches on Tuesday, November 8 at 7 p.m. Prior to that battle, though, Southwestern finishes their season with a chance to improve their standing. The bout with the University of Saint Mary on Saturday, November 5 in Leavenworth, Kan. could result in Southwestern jumping one or even two spots forward to the No. 6 or No. 7 seed with a victory.

--buildersports.com--