WALESKA, Ga. - CIU volleyball faced arguably their stoutest Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) test of the season on Saturday as they battled with AAC women's volleyball heavyweight Reinhardt (Ga.). The Rams (16-0, 7-0) would get the best of the Eagles 3-0 (30-28, 25-19, 25-21). The win is historic as it's the first time in the five-year history of Rams volleyball that CIU has won on Reinhardt's home court. With the victory, CIU is now on the longest single-season win streak in program history at 16 matches.
Set one was a test of the Rams' will as they were in danger of losing their first set in conference play this season. CIU trailed Reinhardt 27-26 before back-to-back kills from Kira Rymer Attaway pushed the Rams forward. CIU would stave off the Eagle's efforts to narrowly escape with the 30-28 set one win. The Rams took the momentum from set one and used it to carry themselves past the Eagles in the final two sets to seize their seventh conference sweep of the season.
Rymer Attaway did what she does best, posting a .458 hitting percentage and 13 kills. Perhaps most notable, Lydia Gustafson set the CIU single-match record in block assists with ten while recording the second-most total blocks in a match in program history with 11. Hanah Weiss made a massive impact as well, with seven block assists.
The Rams tied the program's single-match record in block assists as a team, as CIU totaled 22 on the afternoon.
Setters Melissa Campos Soto and Kamelia De Jesus evened one another up on assists, each notching 20, while Gracen Norris also contributed to the Rams' offensive cause with eight kills.
What Coach Katie Weiss is saying: "Reinhardt has built a great program, and it is always tough to get a win versus a well-coached team like the Eagles. I am super proud of how we showed up defensively today; Lydia was an absolute beast at the net. She really set the tone for us the entire match."
Up next: The Rams make a westwardly road trip on Friday, Sept. 29, as they face Milligan (Tenn.) at 6:30 p.m. EST.
