Point Park Volleyball Falls In NAIA Tournament Opening Round
The Point Park University volleyball team lost 3-0 to Georgetown [Ky.] in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round. Photo courtesy: Zachary Weiss.
GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The Point Park University volleyball team fell 3-0 on the road to NAIA #15 Georgetown Saturday in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round.
The 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 defeat occurred in Point Park’s [27-16] second ever appearance in the opening round.
The Pioneers trailed 8-3 in set one before mounting a comeback to tie the set at 12. Point Park would drop the game 25-19 and had a total attack percentage of -.049.
Point Park dropped set two by a 25-16 score. Its .000 total attack percentage was a match high.
In game three, the Pioneers led 8-5 but following a Georgetown timeout, the Tigers adjusted and took a 12-9 lead. They would take the set to win the match.
As a team, Point Park had 23 kills and 28 digs. Outside hitter Kristi Chenarides and defensive specialist Olivia Fisher led the Pioneers with five kills. Setter Emily Meng had 13 assists and libero had 18 digs.
Georgetown [29-10] was paced by Caraline Maher’s 11 kills and .563 attack percentage. Two Tigers had double digit dig totals as Kristen Schellhaas had 14 while Courtney Grafton added 11
The Pioneers were cheered on by fans that made the drive in freezing rain to Kentucky. In addition, KIAC Commissioner Bill Melton attended the match.
This match marked the conclusion of Olivia Fisher, Roxanne Grundmeier and Kelsey Veydt’s Point Park playing careers.
My take: I was looking forward to what I thought was going to be a very competitive match, but unfortunately Point Park did not play its best volleyball losing in straight sets. Point Park defeated Georgetown in five sets in the regular season, however that did not translate to this match. The margin for error was very small and looking at the statistics, only two players had positive attack percentages and the top team attack percentage in a set was .000 which is not a winning recipe. It is disappointing that Point Park’s three seniors playing careers come to an end. Covering them for their entire Pioneer journeys, each brought a lot to the team both on and off the court and are great people. Their leadership allowed the Pioneers to get to the NAIA Tournament Opening Round for the second time in program history. It is easy to remember the disappointment this loss will provide, but in the bigger picture the season was a success and Point Park is a young team that has become more confident and will be among the favorites in the KIAC next season.