ALBION, Mich. – The message was simple for Albion volleyball head coach
Kristin Slamer-de St. Aubin.
"Keep being us."
Despite a combined 28 errors through attacks, services, blocks and receptions, the No. 3-seeded Britons swept the No. 6-seeded Olivet Comets, 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-20) in the first round of the MIAA Tournament at Kresge Gymnasium after a 3-2 victory during their regular season matchup.
It also marked their ninth consecutive trip to the MIAA Semifinals.
"Tournament volleyball just feels different," Slamer-de St. Aubin said. "Our group is still young, so you could feel that tension when we started to get high error, but we rose to the occasion and got it done."
The first set featured five lead changes and nine ties before the teams were knotted up at 11-11. The Britons then scored the next five points and took the lead for good, leading to the 25-16 set win and hitting .419 in the stanza.
Albion took control of the second set and never looked back. The Britons built a 16-9 advantage and took the following four points before an Olivet timeout.
The Comets got to within four, 19-15, with four consecutive points of their own but four kills and two attack errors led to the second-set victory, 25-19.
Olivet fought back in the third and took a 3-0 lead to open the set. After a 4-4 tie, Albion gained an advantage on a
Bri Whitfield kill and maintained their advantage.
The Comets tied it up three different times during the timeframe until they managed a kill to go up 17-17.
The lead changed two more times before Albion got to the red zone (20 points). From there, the Britons shut the door with two kills and capitalized on three attack errors for the 25-20 set win.
Kayda Herrick led the way with 11 kills for Albion, while
Molly Edmunds recorded 31 assists.
Paige Williamson led the Britons with 14 digs.
The Comets had 28 attack errors and hit .000%, and Albion hit .217% and posted 12 blocks defensively.
Albion will look for their program record-tying 25th win in the MIAA Semifinals as they travel to No. 2-seeded Calvin on Friday, November 14. Back on Halloween, the Britons fell to Calvin, 3-1 (19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 16-25).
"We will need to have great serve-receive and offensive production," Slamer-de St. Aubin said. "Our blocking numbers have to go up, whether that's playable touches or blocks being executed, and we have to put more pressure on Calvin's offense."
