Once junior Megan Branchick put the ball down, giving the team the first point of the first match of the tournament, the Pioneers knew they were going all the way.
After a struggling season, the Pioneers have advanced to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship tournament for the third time in their history. Previously, they went as 2014 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) tournament champions and in 2011 as American Midwest Conference (AMC) tournament winners.
“[Going to the championship] just means that all the flak we got all season and all the things that went wrong and weren’t in our favor, we conquered and accomplished our goals and we overcame everything,” said setter Emily Meng.
Point Park started the KIAC tournament last Friday with a match against Rio Grande University. The Pioneers blew through the match for a 3-0 win with scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-16.
“Winning that game boosted our confidence up so high, helped us carry on with that confidence to win in the semi-finals and go on to the championship,’ said senior Isabella Vavrek.
Branchick led the Pioneers with 17 kills in addition to Vavrek’s eight. With a team total of 14 blocks, junior Nikki Inquartano snagged four for the team, and outside hitter Shiloh Simonson and senior Cristiane Chaves added three each.
On defense, libero Paige Baker reached 22 digs. Simonson and Branchick aided Baker with 15 and eight digs respectively, as well as 10 apiece from setter Madison Weldon and Meng. The team reached 30 assists overall with a combined total of 26 from the setter position alone.
“We got the brooms out and swept them off the floor in their own gym,” Meng said. “It was amazing.”
In the second day of the KIAC tournament, the Pioneers played No. 2 team IU East, winning a close match 3-2 with scores of 21-25, 25-16, 26-28, 27-25 and 15-11.
Branchick reached a team-high of 34 kills, adding 10 from Vavrek and Simonson both gave Point Park a total of 67 kills. On defense, Baker added up 17 digs and Simonson and Weldon added seven each. The team had 54 digs altogether.
Meng knew the team would go far.
“We wanted it,” Meng said. “You could see it in our eyes. Talking can only get us so far. We showed up and it was awesome.”
Against IU Kokomo in the finals, Point Park took the lead by winning the first set, but ultimately had a disappointing loss of 3-1 with scores of 14- 25, 25-13, 25-17 and 25-20.
Again, Branchick reached the highest number of kills for the Pioneers with 17 in total. With help from Vavrek’s nine, the team totaled 37 kills. Defensively, Point Park had an overall 76 digs against the Cougars, with five players reaching double-digits. Baker led the team with 18 digs, Simonson accomplished 14, Vavrek and Weldon snagged 11 apiece and Branchick added 10.
“This weekend was absolutely amazing for us,” Vavrek said.
Point Park will be playing at the NAIA opening round on Nov. 21 against a team who has yet to be announced.
For Vavrek, going to the championship was a dream come true.
“Although we lost I still couldn’t be more proud of my team for making it to the nationals opening round,” Vavrek said.
