COLUMBIA, S.C. – Before November 6th, 2020, perhaps the most significant volleyball match ever played in the Moore Fitness was CIU's inaugural match back in 2018. However, that all changed Friday as Coach
Amber Haver's squad knocked off Appalachian Athletic Conference perennial power Reinhardt University 3 sets to 1 on CIU's home court. The win snapped an impressive 66-match conference win streak by the Eagles dating back to 2017. Reinhardt went 21-0 in the AAC last season and once again took home the AAC Women's Volleyball championship. The win is especially crucial for CIU as the Rams look to make the AAC Postseason Tournament for the first time in their short history. CIU moves to 7-5 on the season, three wins away from their highest win total ever in the conference. Reinhardt picks up their first loss on the year, falling to 10-1.
How It Happened
Set One: The Ram's most dominant win of the match came in set one as CIU led by as much as 24-18. Freshman
Alana Sanjurjo was extremely impressive in the opening set picking up 7 kills. However, the final point of the set came from a
Megan Lung kill, giving CIU the 25-20 win.
Set Two: Reinhardt was determined to not fall into an 0-2 hole, but CIU had other ideas jumping to a 5-1 edge due to two
Shaniece Steer kills and a
Megan Lung ace. The Eagles found themselves in the striking distance several times, but the Rams consistently stopped the Reinhardt attack. The match would end on an emphatic block from setter
Kamelia De Jesus handing the Rams the 25-21 win.
Set Three: The Eagles led by as much as seven points in the set but CIU fought back to tie the set at 23-23 and threatened to win the match 3-0. Reinhardt would come up with a huge block against
Shaniece Steer with the score 24-23 to collect their 25th point and the set win.
Set Four: The match appeared destined for a 5th set as the Rams trailed the Eagles 15-9 after a powerful kill from Reinhardt's Courtney Pressley. Spurred on by a raucous home crowd, the Rams battled their way back behind
Alana Sanjurjo. After leading the Rams the entire evening, Sanjurjo would once again step up, with the game tied 26-26. Sanjurjo shut the door on the Eagles, coming up with consecutive kills to win the set 28-26 and the match 3-1.
Game Notes:
- Freshman Alana Sanjurjo had her best match of the year when the Rams needed it most with 22 kills hitting .316. Sanjurjo also added 2 aces to her stat line.
- Kira Rymer made the most of her moments on the floor, picking up 7 kills and 0 errors with a .636 hitting percentage. Megan Lung had a similar match with 8 kills and only 2 errors.
- Setter Kamelia De Jesus had the second-most assists in a match in program history, recording 50 assists. De Jesus also had 3 crucial blocks.
- Emilia Niedzielska was an important defensive factor to the Rams game plan as she led the team with 20 digs.
- The Rams once again had a substantial hitting percentage at .211 as a team.
- Before their match with CIU, Reinhardt had only lost two sets in 10 conference games.
- The Eagles 66-match win streak is the sixth-longest in NAIA history.
What Coach Haver is saying:
"Proud of the effort and execution tonight from our girls. We knew we were going to have a battle on our hands. Brian Goodhind has built an exceptional program at Reinhardt. A 66 match, AAC win streak is not an easy task. Our intention was to play with passion and purpose. Our very young team came out swinging. We remained disciplined during moments of adversity and played with grit during long rallies. Everyone did their part- the athletes on the court, the players on the bench, and our amazing fans made this an exciting night for our program."
"We would like to dedicate this win to my student assistant, Jay Sanders, who lost his father this week. We are so thankful for his contribution to our program. Most importantly, our prayer was that we would honor Jesus through our play tonight, may He get all the glory"
Up Next:
CIU hopes to continue their winning ways on Saturday as they host Brenau University at noon and Kentucky Christian at 6 PM.
