FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's volleyball hosted the WHAC Tournament Final on Saturday, playing the second-seed Aquinas College Saints. The Orange and Black had defeated the Saints in both regular season meetings and were looking to take down the Saints for a third time to win their second WHAC trophy of the season, and they did so in dominant fashion, winning 3-0(25-21, 25-23, 25-23).
Entering the game, the Warriors were looking to claim their first WHAC Tournament title since they won the regular season and tournament trophies in 2011. In the first set, the Saints took an early 4-1 lead, but a couple of self-inflicted errors opened the door for the Warriors to get back into the game and with a kill and an ace from
Emma Westra, the Orange and Black drew level. A 3-0 run highlighted by kills from
Noelle VanOort and
Taylor Paul gave the Warriors a 13-10 lead, forcing the Saints to use a timeout. From that point, the Warriors maintained their lead, taking set one, 25-21. In the second set, the two teams kept things close to the 10-10 mark, but kills from Westra, and Paul sparked a 4-0 run, establishing a lead for the Warriors. The Saints refused to go down easily and fought their way back into the set, re-establishing a 20-19 lead. With the set tied 23-23, Westra found a hole in the Saint's defense for a crucial kill, followed by an Aquinas attacking error gave the Warriors the set, 25-23. Leading 8-7 in the third set, the Orange and Black went on a 9-3 run, which saw the largest lead of the match at 17-10, forcing a Saints timeout. The timeout proved to be well used, as the Saints battled back and tied the game at 23 but came up short as the third set ended the same as the second; Westra had a crucial kill to regain the lead, followed by a Saints error to give the Warriors the set 25-23 and their second WHAC trophy of the season.
Emma Westra led the attack for the Orange and Black, recording 11 kills and leading the team with 2 aces.
Andrea Schriver led the Warriors in assists with 23, while
Hannah Teich had a team-high 2 blocks.
Noelle VanOort led the back line with 14 digs.
Tech waits to find out their place in the NAIA National Tournament with the selection show on Monday at 2:00 p.m. CST. The selection show is on the NAIA YouTube Channel and can be viewed
here.
-TECH-
