KINGSPORT, Tenn. — CIU women's volleyball punched its ticket to the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament championship match for the fifth consecutive season on Saturday morning, sweeping No. 4-seeded Pikeville (25-14, 25-20, 25-19) in the semifinal round at the MeadowView Marriott Convention Center.

The Rams (24-6) put together one of their most complete efforts of the year, hitting .290 as a team while holding Pikeville (19-13) to a .067 attack percentage. CIU controlled the match from the opening set and never trailed by more than two points in any frame.

Zcearia James led the Rams with 10 kills on a .526 hitting percentage, while Eevy Bellar added eight kills and five total blocks in a standout two-way performance. Mary Norwood posted nine kills and six digs, and senior Lydia Gustafson contributed six kills and four blocks.

Setter Macy Brooks steered the offense with 16 assists, two service aces, and seven digs. Maria Ferreira added 14 assists and one ace, while libero Kelcey Mangum led all players with 21 digs as CIU out-dug Pikeville 50–38.

With the victory, CIU advances to the AAC Tournament championship match at 4:30 p.m. ET, where the Rams will face the winner of Johnson University (Tenn.) and Reinhardt University as they pursue the program's fourth AAC Tournament title.