The Berry College volleyball team defeated Sewanee in four sets in the semifinals of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament on Saturday night at the Cage to set up a showdown for the conference championship with a familiar foe.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., the No.12-ranked Vikings will play Birmingham-Southern, the lone team to beat Berry in the SAA during the regular season, in a rematch for the conference title. In last spring's shortened season, Southern - the Panthers downed Hendrix on their semifinal Saturday - upended the Vikings for the conference crown.
In the semis, Sewanee took the first set against the Vikings 25-23 in an intense battle that led up until the final two points of the set. The early setback served as motivation for the No.1 seeded team.
Berry head coach Caitlyn Moriarty said the team had to adjust quickly.
"We had to make a lot of adjustments physically and mentally," she said, "and the factor to us being successful was their buy-in to that and their willingness to push through mentally and make changes physically."
The second set was a much different story, as Berry dominated the set 25-15.
The two teams continued to battle it out in the third set in another close one, but the Vikings managed to overpower Sewanee's defense and come out on top 25-20.
In the fourth set the Vikings decided the outcome quickly, breaking out to a commanding lead to win the set 25- 6 and seal the victory.
"We were really demanding of the ball and that gave us a lot of one-on-one opportunities," said Peyton Breissinger.
Breissinger led the team with 19 kills and Jazzy Innis added 16, Emily Rapach had 53 assists, and Laura Beier came up with 29 digs.
The rematch between BSC and Berry will be one that rekindles the rivalry between the two programs.
"Any time we play Birmingham-Southern," Moriarty said, "it's intense and exciting and it's great volleyball. We'll just try to control what we can control on our side."
