2018 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, Sioux City, IA
UJ def Saint Xavier 28-26, 32-30, 25-13
The Jimmies played in a one-set tiebreaker Thursday night, against Viterbo University, which defeated Southern Oregon 3-2.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (uj.edu)— The 24th-ranked University of Jamestown swept Saint Xavier (Ill.) University Thursday to finish pool play at the 2018 NAIA Volleyball National Championships presented by Delta Hotels, with a 2-1 record.
With Viterbo defeating Southern Oregon in the pool’s other match, a one-set tiebreaker between the V-Hawks and Jimmies was played late Thursday evening to see which team would advance to the round of 16. Viterbo came away 25-21 winners and will face Northwestern (Iowa) Friday at 9 a.m.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: (24) Jamestown 3, (RV) Saint Xavier 0 (28-26, 32-30, 25-13)
LOCATION: Tyson Events Center, Sioux City, IA
RECORDS: Jamestown 24-9, Saint Xavier 28-12
HOW IT HAPPENED
*The Jimmies and Cougars went long in each of the first two sets, with 54 and 62 rallies, respectively, needed to determine a winner.
*Six Jimmies had two or more kills in set one, led by Kennedy Conzemius (SR/Breckenridge, Minn.) and Isabel Wedell (JR/Ellendale, N.D.) with four each.
*Nine players combined for just 12 kills in the second set, but Jamestown took advantage of 16 Cougar attack errors and two service errors.
*UJ regained their stride in the third set, closing out the sweep by hitting .364 and making one error in 33 attempts.
FOR UJ
*The Jimmies hit .193 for the match with 42 kills and 14 errors in 145 attempts.
*Wedell and Ellie Michaletz (SO/Aitkin, Minn.) had eight kills to lead the offense. Conzemius finished with seven and Corina Ruud (SO/Breezy Point, Minn.) five.
*Miranda Lowman (JR/Mandan, N.D.) (19 assists, 11 digs) and Jackie Meiklejohn (FR/Dickey, N.D.) (12 assists, 14 digs) each had a double-double.
*Jamestown racked up 83 digs, led by Julina Niemeier (SR/Jamestown, N.D.)’s 24. Anna Holen (FR/LaMoure, N.D.) was also in double figures with 14 digs.
*Britta Knudson (JR/Bismarck, N.D.) paced the UJ block defense with six block assists. Wedell had four total blocks (one solo), and Ruud had three (two solo).
FOR SXU
*Kate Bontrager had a match-high 11 kills and Helena Atton added 10.
*The Cougars hit .035 for the match with 40 kills and 34 errors in 171 attempts.
*Cassidy Wyman passed out 33 assists and recorded a double-double with 12 digs.
*In addition to Wyman, Grace Murphy (22), Bontrager (15), Emily Mayer (12), and Jessica Belseth (11) all had double-digit dig totals.
*Alex Lambros had four total blocks (three assists).
UP NEXT
*Jamestown ends their first season as members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference with an overall record of 24-9. Saint Xavier finishes the season at 28-12.
The Cougars finish out the 2018 season with their second consecutive national tournament appearance, the first time in program history that Saint Xavier has qualified for the tournament in back-to-back seasons. The Cougars end the year with a 28-12 overall record, and set the program record for the most victories (64) in a two-year period.
