Montgomery, Ala. – The College of Coastal Georgia women's volleyball team split its two matches Thursday in pool play at the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament at the Multiplex Building at Cramton Bowl.
The No. 9 seeded Mariners lost 3-0 to No. 3 seed Belhaven, but bounced back to knock off No. 4 seed Southern Wesleyan 3-1 in their second and final pool play match.
The Mariners now wait to see what happens Friday when Belhaven and Southern Wesleyan meet to finish out pool play. A Belhaven win sends the Mariners to the quarterfinals as the top two teams in each of the three pools advance from pool play. A Southern Wesleyan win would leave all three teams with a 1-1 record, thus a tiebreaker would have to be used to determine the pool winner with the other two teams then meeting in a one-set playoff to determine the second team.
The Mariners are now 14-18 overall. They finished 5-9 in conference games during the regular season. This is Coastal Georgia's first season in the SSAC and first time competing in the league tournament.
The quarterfinals are set for Friday. The semifinals and finals will be Saturday. The two finalists will both earn berths into the NAIA national championship tournament.
During the season, the Mariners lost twice to Southern Wesleyan, but the second meeting was a thrilling 3-2 match that was intense and competitive.
On Thursday, the Mariners dropped the opening set to the Warriors 25-22, but came back to take the next three 25-16, 26-24, 27-25.
The Mariners trailed 24-19 in the fourth set, but with Kansas Robison serving the next five points, the Mariners drew even and then proceeded to claim the set and the match.
Junior outside hitter Lindsay Herman led the Mariners with 20 kills and 17 digs. She also had three aces and two blocks. Freshman hitter Kara Neisen, who clinched the match with a kill, finished with 16 kills and 10 digs. Holly Hammer was solid as well, with 21 assists, 11 kills and four aces. Maggie Bee led the Mariners with 27 assists while Cassidy Kingery led the squad with 28 digs.
"We played great," said a happy Jeff Huebner, Coastal Georgia head coach. "We were mature and clean and did a great job of overcoming adversity in the match. I am so proud of the kids, and we will probably look back on this win as our first signature win in our program."
Against Belhaven, the Mariners were competitive but lost 19-25, 22-25, 21-25. Coastal Georgia also lost the regular-season match between the two teams 3-0.
Herman led the team with 15 kills. Neisen had nine kills and seven digs. Hammer had 16 assists.
"Lindsay was awesome. Belhaven had no answer for her, and for the way Holly set the ball," Huebner said. "We gave away a few points we shouldn't have, and in a match that is close as three and five points in each set, a few points is the difference in the match."
