POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - CIU women's volleyball dropped their first NCCAA postseason match since 2020 on Saturday, unfortunately, the loss came at an inopportune time as CIU fell in the 2022 NCCAA DI Women's Volleyball National title match. The Rams came up short in a hard-fought five-set match with Trinity International (Ill.) as the Trojans picked up the 3-2 (14-25, 25-19, 25-15, 16-25, 12-15) victory. The Rams finish the season with a program-best record of 38-9 and are the first team in CIU athletics history to make back-to-back trips to an NCCAA title game. 

The Trojans came roaring out of the gate to take set one; however, CIU appeared to settle in as they easily commanded control of both sets two and three. Set four was back and forth until the Trojans began to steadily build a lead midway through the set and closed out the fourth with three unanswered points. The Rams would hold a 7-5 advantage in the fifth set after a Hadassah Davis kill and a Trojan error. However, the Trojans outscored the Rams 10-5 the rest of the way as CIU came up just short of their second consecutive NCCAA National Championship. 

Both Kira Rymer and Kamelia De Jesus were chosen as all-tournament team selections, with Rymer picking up 14 kills and three block assists. De Jesus notched her third double-double of the tournament with 36 assists and 14 digs. Hadassah Davis continued her postseason coming-out party with 16 kills, while Abbey Kleist was also in double-digit kills with ten. The Rams had four players with ten or more digs (De Jesus, Katie Nichols, Alana Sanjurjo, and Kelcey Mangum), as Mangum led CIU in digs with 23. Serving turned the match's momentum against the Rams as CIU had an uncharacteristic nine service errors. 

What Coach Amber Haver is saying: The girls worked hard this week. They balanced class work and competition. It didn't go our way today, but the process remains the same. We do our part, and we trust Jesus with the outcome. I expect we will learn more from this loss than we would have learned with a win.  Extremely proud of these student-athletes for such great work and growth this season. It's been so much fun to be their coach. The best is yet to come."

Up Next: The Rams conclude the winningest season in CIU volleyball program history.