AUGUSTA, GA -- The Flagler College Saints won their seventh Peach Belt Conference volleyball tournament championship on Saturday with an epic 3-2 win over USC Aiken. Set scores were 25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 21-25 and 16-14. Flagler (18-9) claims the Peach Belt's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament which begins next week. USC Aiken (19-13) remains hopeful for an at-large spot, but will have to wait until the tournament field is revealed on Sunday at 10:30 with a live show at NCAA.com.
Flagler took the first set 25-23 with a dominating net defense. The Saints had six blocks in the opening frame led by Molly Boyd who had three block assists and a solo. Flagler also hit .302 as a team, but that was not enough to escape the Pacers. Flagler led 21-16 when the Pacers got three straight kills to close the gap to two. The Saints answered with two kills of their own, only to see the Pacers respond with three straight to cut the lead to one, 23-22. Audrey Simmons got a kill for Flagler, but that was answered by USCA's Mallory Barash who faked a set for a kill. The Pacers had a swing on the next point, but a rolling dig from Edie Lamoreaux kept the point alive and Logan Garcia finished the set for Flagler with a kill.
The roles were reversed in the second set as USCA came back 25-18. The Pacers staked out an early lead and did not let Flagler close the gap. USCA hit .432 as a team in the set with only one attack error in 38 attempts while Flagler's net defense recorded no blocks. Anna Sommer recorded the final point for USCA as she put home a 50/50 ball over the net.
USC Aiken fought off five set points in the third, but Flagler got the big kill from Jordan Berglin on the sixth to win 26-24. USCA led 6-5 to start the third before Flagler went on a 7-0 run for a 12-6 lead. USCA went on a 6-0 run of their own, getting four kills from Sadie McKay, to tie the set at 14. Flagler then took advantage of three straight Pacer errors as the net defense returned for three total blocks.
The Pacers rebounded again in the fourth as neither team was able to maintain the efficiency from the third set. Flagler led 2-1 but the Pacers retook the lead and never surrendered it, building a 20-15 advantage. Flagler answered with five of the next six points, cutting the lead to 21-20. McKay and Garcia traded kills to make it 22-21 but a kill from Kaitlyn Lund for USCA and a Flagler attack error led to set point which was converted by Rodriguez to force a fifth set.
The two teams were tied at 13 in the fifth when Boyd gave Flagler their first match point with a kill. USCA answered with a kill from Emily Lammers to tie it at 14. What followed may have been the point of the match as a USCA attack had Flagler scrambling. Cecilia Robert ran down the ball, nearly crashing into the end zone seats, but got the ball back over the net. Robert then came back and got the kill on the same point for a 15-14 lead. Garcia finished it off with a kill on the next point.
Garcia led the team with 14 kills on the day and six total blocks while Boyd added 13 kills and seven blocks. Berglin, named the Tournament MVP, had 12 kills with 11 digs. Lamoreaux had a match-high 33 digs while Muff had 51 assists and 11 digs.
McKay led USC Aiken with 25 kills and added 17 digs. Kari Mercer led the Pacers with 27 digs while Barash had 52 assists and 13 digs.
It was the seventh PBC Championship game to go to five sets, but the first to go to extra points in the fifth set. Flagler becomes the first PBC Champion to go to five sets in both the semifinals and the finals.
All-Tournament Team
Katie Miller, Lander
Alexis Diaz-Infante, Augusta
Sadie McKay, USC Aiken
Mallory Barash, USC Aiken
Edie Lamoreaux, Flagler
Tournament MVP
Jordan Berglin, Flagler