Blue Mountain Christian opened the SSAC Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 win over Andrew College on Thursday at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The Volley Toppers won 25-14, 51-33 and 25-16 to improve to 13-15.
The second set went to an unusual 51-33 score as Blue Mountain Christian took a 2-0 lead. The team closed the match with a 25-16 third-set victory.
Salice Speed led all players with 13 kills, while Marissa Gerleman added nine. Sydney Tague recorded five service aces, and Abbi Williams led the defense with 15 digs. Mattie Hopper had four blocks. Olivia Domino led Blue Mountain Christian with 10 assists and added three blocks; Brenyn Wilbanks contributed nine assists.
Blue Mountain Christian finished with 37 kills and a .281 hitting percentage, compared with 17 kills and a minus-.033 percentage for Andrew. The Volley Toppers also had eight aces, seven blocks and 47 digs.
The tournament schedule lists Blue Mountain Christian against Loyola (Louisiana) at 9 a.m. Friday in its final pool-play match. The winner is set to advance to the next round.
