Avila Sweeps Kansas Christian, Splits at Haskell Tri

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Avila volleyball (7-8) dominated Kansas Christian (0-6) in the Eagles' most convincing sweep of the season so far before falling to hosts Haskell (4-6) in a four-set tilt, and the Eagles split their pair of matches at the Haskell Triangular host by Haskell Indian Nations in Lawrence on Tuesday night.

Avila has dominated the recent series against local for Kansas Christian in recent years, and the 2022 installment of this now-annual matchup was no different. Avila held the Falcons to just nine points in the first set, the fewest any team has scored on them this season. After they soared out to an 11-1 lead to open the third set, the Eagles slightly struggled to wrap up the match, allowing the Falcons to creep up to 18 points, but a kill from Phoebe Riddle put an end to that, sealing the match in straight sets.

Despite the slow finish, Avila still hit .325 as a team in the match, while limiting KCC to a team clip of just .016. Latresa Saunders led the Falcons with five kills. McKenzie Green led the Eagles with 11, Kelsey Johnson added seven kills on eight attempts with no errors (.875), and D'Ovion Williams continued her torrid stretch with eight kills on .500 hitting.

Haskell also defeated Kansas Christian in straight sets, setting up a round-robin title match between the Eagles and Fighting Indians in the nightcap of the tri. Avila started the first set strong but finished stronger, winning five of the final seven points of the frame and hitting .256 as a team to win the first set 25-19.

Haskell though rebounded sharply, winning the next two sets 25-18 and 25-22 to swiftly take the lead. And then the Fighting Indians capitalized on that surge, and led for the entirety of the fourth set. Haskell jumped out a 6-1 start with the match on the line, and even though the Eagles played from behind the entire period, they never gave up, and that set up the longest set the Eagles have played in so far this season.

Haskell led by as many as seven, 21-14, in the fourth set, trying to put the game away. But back to back kills from Johnson and Green on assists from Addison Davis helped Avila rally all the way back to tie it up at 23, and from there everything was neck and neck. Avila saved four match points in the fourth set, counting on their super senior middle blocker D'Ovion Williams to give them the kill to keep in the match on three of those occasions. The Eagles even had a set point of their own at 26-25 and could not convert; finally, on their fifth match point attempt, the Fighting Indians escaped after an Eagle attack error, winning the set 30-28 to claim the match in four.

Top Haskell hitter Hannah Poorman led the way with 15 kills, but Avila limited her to just a .135 clip. Nakooma Pelt led all players with 25 digs. Johnson had 11 kills for the Eagles and Riddle added six on .500 hitting, while Williams dominated again, dropping a match-high 18 kills against just four errors, good for a .368 attack percentage. Abigail Blake led the Eagles with 20 digs, while Davis recorded her fourth double-double of the season.

Up next, Avila volleyball will return home to Mabee Fieldhouse to host Baptist Bible College this Friday, September 16. It's Alumni Night at Mabee, and Avila Volleyball will be welcoming a host of former players back to the Fieldhouse to watch the match. It all gets started at 7 PM; as always, you can watch all the action on the Avila Sports Network.