SIOUX CITY, Iowa – An intense five-set match where the No. 7-ranked Corban University Volleyball team trailed two sets to none entering the third set concluded with the Warriors falling just shy of a reverse sweep against their Sun Conference opponent in No. 22-ranked St. Thomas University, as STU managed to eke out a 25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 20-25, and 19-17 showstopper to conclude the first day of NAIA National Championship Pool Play.
"St. Thomas is a really tough team, and they clearly came ready to play tonight," Warriors' head coach Kim McLain shared shortly after the two and a half hour match. "The journey is far from finished though, and we have a great opportunity to rest and recover tomorrow before playing in what we think will be a huge match for us on Friday. I'm proud of the girls for fighting back into tonight's match and never calling it quits. They fought through every single point and worked extremely hard on the court, the result just didn't fall our way."
St. Thomas (27-2) set the tone early in what would eventually be the only upset on day one of the national final site, as they quickly jumped out to massive first set leads that the Warriors (27-7) just weren't prepared for as they underestimated their lower-ranked opponent. The Bobcats high-octane offense, combined with the Navy and Gold's multiple unforced errors both offensively and defensively through the first two sets, resulted in nail-biting 25-23 and 26-24 set losses by Corban to trail 2-0 on the scoreboard, needing to pull off what would have been their first reverse sweep of the season.
With a 23-22 lead as the third set drew to a close, the Bobcats only needed two points to sweep the 2022 national runner-up program, but the Warriors were able to answer with three-straight points via a kill by junior outside hitter Rylee Troutman and back-to-back block assists by junior middle blocker Allyson Reid and sophomore opposite hitter Makayla Roginski. The first of three dominos has now finally fallen the Warriors' direction.
The momentum had clearly swung to the Navy and Gold's sideline, but STU was still making it extremely difficult on them, as all three of the first sets had gone the maximum and were all settled by the two-point minimum. A 7-1 run to kickstart the fourth set is exactly what Corban needed if they wanted to force a fifth set, but once again, St. Thomas refused to back down.
A double-digit Warrior lead was quickly extinguished with 15-3 run by the Bobcats, spinning a large deficit into a two-point lead with the upset in sight. However, the Navy and Gold flipped their switch again and dominated the final nine points in what would be a 25-20 final set score, providing Corban with a sliver of hope and needing at least 15 points to secure the coveted reverse sweep result.
Exhaustion had finally caught up with both teams and it began to show in the fifth set, as handfuls of attacking errors and service errors plagued the final set in what would eventually go to extra points yet again. A 12-9 STU advantage was eliminated with a four-point Corban run, but quickly forced match point at 14-13 to put the Warriors back in a corner.
Back-and-forth the pendulum swung once again, as Corban scored three of the next four points to find themselves in a match-point scenario, and thus the forcing the final timeout of the match from St. Thomas. The Bobcats finally put the final nail in the metaphorical coffin to end the Warriors' comeback bid, scoring four of the five final points, and ending the match 19-17 in a historic upset for the Sun Conference member participating in their first final site appearance.
In her final season of competition with an early graduation on the horizon, Warriors' junior outside hitter Rylee Troutman was on a mission tonight in yet another double-double outing for the All-American, dropping a game-high 27 kills and hauling in 17 digs for the all-around performance everyone expected in her final national pool play opener.
Roginski (14), Reid (10), and freshman middle blocker Emma Bischoff (10) all tallied double-digit kill results as well, with Reid setting not one, but three incredible records in tonight's match. With a massive 12.0 block performance for the first double-double of her career, Reid sets a personal career-high single match mark, ties the all-time career record for blocks in a single match for a Warrior, and on her ninth block, broke the single season blocking record that has withstood the test of time, as she's now sent 147 failed attacks back at her opponents this year to break a 25-year old record.
The double-double performances didn't stop there for Corban, as junior setter Courtney Garwood dealt out a team-high 32 dimes combined with 11 digs in the backcourt in command of the Warriors' offense.
In the backrow for the Navy and Gold, junior libero Marissa Uehara dug up a team-high 19 digs to lead the backcourt defenders, while junior outside hitter Ainslie Ridgway matched Troutman and earned 17 digs herself.
The Bobcats' well-rounded offense was led by outside hitter Amanda Allende and her 24 kills, adding 14 digs as well for one of two team double-double performances. Opposite hitter Alexandra Bruno secured the other outing with 10 kills and 17 digs. A massive 59-assist and 44-dig stat sheet stuffing set of performances for setter Payton Bertke and libero Bianca Grassi, respectively, proved to be integral in St. Thomas' upset, and will need to replicate those numbers tomorrow night if they want to lock down the top spot in the pool.
The Corban volleyball team will enjoy their off-day tomorrow as the top ranked squad in their pool to watch STU and their Friday opponent, No. 9-ranked University of Jamestown, battle it out before they get their own shot at redemption against the Jimmies (24-9) on Friday at 7pm CT/5pm PT.
If the Bobcats win tomorrow, they will advance to the NAIA National Quarterfinal round, and the Corban/Jamestown Friday bout will be played with only bragging rights on the line. However, if the Jimmies pick up a victory, then the Warriors can force a three-team tiebreaker on Friday should they manage to flip the script on UJ during their Friday evening contest.
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