No. 7 Walters State’s season ends in NJCAA DII Tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA -- No. 7 Walters State saw their historic and impressive season come to an end on Wednesday, falling in the NJCAA DII Volleyball tournament to Terra State 3-1 (25-17, 25-8, 23-25, 25-9).  

Walters State concluded the season with an 18-3 record. The Lady Senators finished an undefeated 12-0 in the conference during the regular season and were the TCCAA regular season champions, Region VII Tournament champions and won the NJCAA Southeast District B Championship. The Lady Senators appearance in the NJCAA Tournament was their first appearance in school history. 

On Wednesday, Walters State was led by Olivia Oxendine with six kills. Hannah Daniel added four while Devyn Davis had three. Along with those three, Amanda Singleton led the team with 10 digs while Taylor Tigue had 11 assists.  

However, Terra State was too much to handle as Tyriana Settles totaled 17 kills and 15 digs while Jakyla Jackson had 13 kills.  

Set one saw Walters State come out more comfortable than yesterday as they got out to a 3-1 lead on an ace by Daniel. The two teams would go back and forth for awhile as Walters State took advantage of some Terra State errors. The Lady Senators had the Terra State lead down to 14-13 when Raenah Barton had a kill, but Terra State scored the next six points to take control. They took to the first set 25-17. 

In set two, Walters State fell behind early and could never recover as they trailed 20-6 before Terra State closed it out with a 25-8 set two victory.  

However, with their season on the line, Walters State put forth one final effort. The Lady Senators, after dropping the first two points of the set, rallied off four straight points, two coming from aces by Tigue, to take the lead. Terra State would tie the set up, but Walters State kept fighting. Down 19-17, the Lady Senators tied the match up. Then, with the set tied at 23, Daniel had an ace and Hill closed the set out with a kill. It was the first set won in the NJCAA tournament in school history. 

Unfortunately for Walters State, they could not replicate that set, falling 25-9 in the final set of the season.  

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics