SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Two up, two down, the Viterbo University volleyball team disposed of its second opponent in the NAIA tournament.
The V-Hawks have officially punched their ticket to the round of 12 after beating No. 23 Coastal Georgia 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 25-11) in the second round of pool play on Wednesday at the Tyson Center.
Viterbo (37-7) will play the final pool-play round Thursday against No. 4 Biola (30-4), which is also undefeated heading into the last stage.
The two teams are likely playing for a bye in the next round of the NAIA tournament. Twelve teams come out of the six pools. Four of those teams will get a bye. The final rounds take place Friday and Saturday.
Viterbo and Biola met already this season back in August. They won 3-2 (25-23,19-25,25-16,14-25,15-7). Viterbo coach Ryan DeLong took very little from the meeting.
“It was (one of the first games) of the year, early, so both teams were trying to feel one another out,” DeLong said last week. “That game, way back in August, doesn’t mean a whole lot except that we’ve seen them before and have competed against them.”
Against Coastal Georgia (35-3), which has now lost two in a row, after coming in with just one loss, Alicia Olson continued to tear it up with 20 kills and added 15 digs and 1.5 blocks.
She got a lot of help, too, as teammates Natalie Geidel added 17 kills and Sara Biermaier had 13. Brianna Brinkman had 50 assists and 10 digs, while Jennifer Krentz had 18 digs and five assists for the V-Hawks.
Viterbo’s kill percentage was a dominant .319 – 64 kills, 18 errors – while Coastal Georgia hit just .197 (48 kills, 19 errors).