Women’s volleyball ends historic season at NAIA championship

The women’s volleyball team headed into the NAIA National Women’s Volleyball Tournament this year with a record of 37-1. After having a nearly perfect season, the V-hawks felt prepared to face the challenges ahead.  

On November 20, the women’s volleyball team hosted the opening round of the NAIA championship. Their first game was against the Indiana South Bend Titans. The game started off strong with Viterbo taking the lead in set one. The V-Hawks kept their lead throughout the game despite the Titans’ efforts. The game wrapped up 3-0 with a victory for the V-Hawks advancing them to the next round. 

The team played its next match on November 30 in Sioux City, Iowa against the Oregon Tech Owls. At the start of the game, Oregon Tech got the lead and kept it throughout set one. Oregon won the first set 25-22, proving a challenge for the V-Hawks. The Owls started the second set with a lead of 17-13, but the V-Hawks were determined to change that. Viterbo took the lead after a 9-0 service run from Cassidy Spies and some kills from Grace Rohde.  

The V-hawks kept their lead winning set two and continuing on to win set three. Oregon went on the win set four, putting pressure on the V-Hawks going into set five. The Owls got the early lead in set five, but Viterbo began to chip away at it with a kill from Kenzie Winker. After a close match, Viterbo won the final set 15-13 and an overall score of 3-2. With no time to rest, the team began preparing for the next round the following morning. 

The V-Hawks played their third and final round of the championship on December 1. The team was up against the Concordia Bulldogs. As the game began, both teams were fighting to get the lead. The V-Hawks pulled ahead after an ace from Kenidi McCabe. Viterbo managed to keep the lead in set one despite having 11 ties throughout the match. Concordia came back with a vengeance in set two and got the early lead. Viterbo fought hard taking it back with back-to-back kills from Maya Roberts and Miah Garant. The team solidified their lead with a block from Katie Frohmader and Garant putting the V-Hawks up 5-4. The Bulldogs took the lead back, and despite the V-Hawks efforts, they took set two 25-20. 

Concordia led for most of set three and took the win. The Bulldogs took an early lead in set four of 7-1. The V-Hawks caught up with a kill from Frohmader and Roberts followed by pair from Rohde. The team was only down two points and with more kills from Frohmader and Roberts; the V-hawks took the lead and won set four. Viterbo took the early lead in set five, but Concordia took the match. The game ended 3-2, taking Viterbo out of the championships and giving them their second loss of the season.  

The V-Hawks ended their season 39-2 and set a new program record with a 32-game win streak. Regardless of how the season ended, it is one that will go down in V-Hawk history.