The Piedmont College volleyball team claimed the 2007 Great South Athletic Conference Championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division-III National Tournament with a 3-1 (30-25, 30-23, 22-30, 30-28) win against top-seeded and five-time champion Maryville College on Saturday in Lagrange.
Piedmont's (24-8) Sarah Lane was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
The win ended top-seeded Maryville College's steak of five consecutive GSAC tournament titles and marks the second conference tournament championship for Piedmont.
Piedmont's national tournament assignement will be announced by the NCAA office on Sunday, November 4th with the first-round regionals to be contested on participating campuses beginning Thursday, November 8th and running through Saturday, November 10th.
The NCAA national tournament appearance will be the first ever for the Piedmont College volleyball program and the school's fifth since Piedmont became full-fledged NCAA members five seasons ago. The volleyball team joins the women's basketball (2006-07), men's soccer (2003), men's tennis (2004), and softball (2006) teams with NCAA National Tournament invitations.
Piedmont built a large lead in the first game, lost it, and closed out the game with a strong run. PC led 16-6 after Nikki Cole put down a kill but Maryville came back with a 7-0 run to cut the Piedmont lead to 17-15. Trailing 19-17, the Lady Scots reeled off five straight points, the last on a kill by Jesse Zabal to take a 22-19 lead. Piedmont tied the game for the last time at 23 on a shot by Kalin DeMarrais. Ashley Chima put the Lions ahead to stay, 26-25, with a kill. Chima ended the game with another kill for the 30-25 final.
Piedmont controlled the second game from the outset. DeMarrais’ kill gave Piedmont its largest lead, 22-13, and prompted a time out from Maryville. The Lady Scots scored four straight points to force a time out by the Lions. Piedmont came out of the timeout with three straight points to regain control of the game and build a 25-17 lead. Piedmont led by as many as eight points before taking the game 30-23.
Maryville bounced back to avoid the sweep in the third game with a 30-22 win. The Lady Scots never trailed in the game, scoring the first seven points. Piedmont closed within two, 22-20, after a service ace from DeMarrais. Maryville closed out the game by scoring eight of the last 10 points.
The final game was a tense back-and-forth affair. The game was tied 18 times. Maryville had its biggest lead, 10-6, after a kill by Jesse Zabal. Piedmont came back to take a 16-13 lead after a tip from Katie Tucker. The Lady Scots led 28-27, but could not put the game away. Tucker tied the game for the last time, 28-28, when she blocked a shot. Nikki Cole put down a kill to put Piedmont up 29-28. Maryville could not return a shot by Lane to end the match.