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Led by their all-Frontier Conference middle blocker's match-high 18 kills, the Warriors captured the championship of the Bank of Whitman Frontier Conference Volleyball Tournament with a wild 28-26, 29-27, 25-19 win over the Battlin' Bears at the LCSC Activity Center on Saturday night.
The win lifts the Warriors to 28-2 on the season and gives them an automatic berth into the 36-team NAIA national tournament. LCSC, ranked No. 14 in the NAIA, is hoping to climb into the top 11 in the final poll, which comes out Sunday because the top 11 teams and the host team for the tournament receive automatic berths into the pool play portion of the tournament at Sioux City, Iowa. The remaining 24 teams will play 12 first-round matches at host sites next Saturday to determine the other 12 teams that advance to pool play.
Only one team in the poll ahead of LCSC lost in its conference tournament and six teams are from the Golden State Athletic Conference, which does not have a conference tournament. That means if LCSC doesn't receive a first-round bye, it would likely play host to a first-round match next Saturday, but that won't be finalized until Monday when the seedings and pairings are announced.
Rocky Mountain, which was the tournament's No. 2 seed, is 19-8 on the season and is hoping for an at-large bid to nationals.
The Warriors and the Bears put on quite a show for the crowd of nearly 700 in what was easily the wildest volleyball match played in the four-year history of the Activity Center. LCSC led 24-20 in the first set before RMC rallied, and then the Bears led 23-19 and eventually served for the second set twice before LCSC claimed the win. In the third set, neither team led by more than three until LCSC ran off the final five points for the title.
"I think the crowd got their money's worth. That was entertaining and great volleyball," LCSC coach Jennifer Greeny said. "I think it's just the end of the season and our players believe they must leave it all out on the floor and have no regrets. That was a hard-fought match tonight."
"We were with them point for point, but LCSC beat us tonight," RMC coach Laurie Kelly said. "I didn't really tell my kids anything after the match. We played well and fought hard. I'm proud of the kids. They had a great tournament."
Maciboba had a solid tournament, capped by the title-match performance where she hit .353, had one service ace, three digs, and five block assists. In the first game alone she had nine kills and time and again when LCSC needed a pick-up during Saturday's match, Maciboba was there.
"She's really been our go-to player and that's how she's been playing the past month," Greeny said. "She's been playing very well."
"I just realize that my career is coming to an end and I have to leave it all out on the court," Maciboba said. "Tonight was fun. It was a crazy and intense match, but the crowd was great."
In the three tournament matches, she had 37 kills and hit close to .360.
In the opening match, RMC raced out to an 18-12 lead with five straight points, but LCSC answered with seven straight and 11 of 12 to take a 23-19 lead. It was 24-20 before RMC fought off four straight set points. Eventually Lauryn Herrick closed out the set on a kill that was set up by Anile Clemente's tough jump serve.
The second set was more of the same. RMC led 20-17 and 23-19, but the Warriors cut the margin to 24-22 before scoring the next two points to tie the match. RMC went up 25-24 and again at 27-26, but LCSC battled back both times. Kills by Austyn Lewis and Dana Christiansen ended a run of three straight points to give LCSC the second set.
The Warriors then put the third set away with its run at the end to capture its second straight conference tournament title. LCSC also has won the conference regular season title the past two years.
"We've had the bull's-eye on our back and that is something this program is not used to, at least recently," Greeny said. "I'm glad the tournament is over so we can move on to the next step."
Clemente also played well for the Warriors with 13 kills, 11 digs, and two block assists, while Herrick had eight kills and a .412 hitting percentage. Lisa Davis led three Warriors in double-digits for assists with 17, while Lindsay Scott had 23 digs.
For the match, LCSC hit .211, while RMC hit .093. The Bears had 74 digs to 71 for LCSC, while the Warriors had 48 kills to 44 for RMC. The Warriors collected nine blocks to seven for the Bears.
Jessica Overstreet had 15 kills to pace RMC, while Katharina Hinrichsen had nine along with 19 digs. Kristin Barott added 36 assists.