Lady Senators take on Cleveland CC in NJCAA Southeast District with an NJCAA DII Championship spot on the line

PETERSBURG, VA – No. 18 Walters State will face a familiar foe on Friday afternoon in the NJCAA Southeast District at Richard Bland College.

The Lady Senators, after winning the TCCAA/Region 7 Championship last weekend, will take on Region 10's No. 2 seed, Cleveland Community College, at 3 p.m. ET with the winner earning a spot in the NJCAA DII Volleyball Championships. The NJCAA DII Volleyball Championships will be held in Cedar Rapids, IA from November 20-23. 

The other match in the NJCAA Southeast District will see Region 10's No. 1 seed, sixth-ranked Richard Bland, take on Region 7's No. 2, Chattanooga State, at 1 p.m. 

To stream Friday's match, visit https://www.youtube.com/@richardblandcollege597/featured.

The Matchup:

• This will be the third time Walters State and Cleveland CC will take the court against each other this season.

• On October 2, the Lady Senators swept the Yetis 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-21) at home. Finley Surber and Catherine Sweeney each had nine kills in the match for Walters State, while Sweeney had six total blocks. Lauren Mims had six kills and 12 digs, and Olivia Brown had 16 assists. 

• On October 17, the Lady Senators went to Cleveland CC and grabbed a 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-13, 25-20) victory. In the match, Mims had 16 kills and 17 digs while Olivia Brown had 22 assists. Veda Barton also had eight kills and five block assists, while Rylee Haynie had seven kills and six total blocks. 

• Cleveland CC enters Friday's match with a 22-10 record. The Yetis went 9-2 in the conference. 

• Walters State enters with a 25-5 record. The Lady Senators went 7-1 in the conference.

How They Got Here:

• Walters State qualified for the Southeast District after winning the TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament last weekend. The Lady Senators took care of Pellissippi State 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-9) in the semifinals, before taking a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19) win over Chattanooga State in the Championship.

• Against Chattanooga State, Mims led the way with 12 kills, 19 digs and five aces while Barton had 10 kills and two block assists. Other contributors were Alyssa Campbell with nine kills and two block assists, Haynie with seven kills and three total blocks, Surber with seven kills, Payton Brown with 20 digs and Olivia Brown with 24 assists.

• For Cleveland CC, the Yetis won their opening match of the Region 10 Tournament 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-22) over Pitt Community College. In the semifinals, the third-seeded Yetis upset No. 2 Cape Fear 3-2 (15-25, 24-26, 28-26, 25-23, 15-11) to clinch their spot in the NJCAA Southeast District Tournament. Cleveland lost the first two sets but won the final three. The Yetis fell 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) to Richard Bland in the Championship.

Players To Watch:

Walters State

• Lauren Mims – The TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament MVP, Mims has been outstanding for the Lady Senators. Mims finished second in the conference in kills with 276, fourth in service aces with 45, second in digs with 408 and ninth in total blocks with 45. 

• Rylee Haynie – Haynie was the TCCAA Freshman of the Year after a great season. Haynie was first in the conference with 106 total blocks and 1.04 blocks per set, second in hitting percentage at .321 and seventh in kills with 216. 

• Alyssa Campbell – Campbell was named to the All-TCCAA First Team in 2024.   Campbell was second in the conference with 90 total blocks, sixth in hitting percentage with .247 and had 176 kills.

Cleveland CC

• Aziyah Rudisill – Rudisill led the Yetis with 327 kills, good enough for eighth in their conference. Rudisill averaged three kills per set and was first in the conference with 112 total blocks and 1.03 blocks per set. 

• Daniela Castillo – Castillo was the Yetis libero this season. Castillo was fourth in the conference with 551 digs and third with 5.01 digs per set. 

• Kassie Swink – A setter for Cleveland, Swink had 731 assists and 6.65 assists per set. Swink was eighth in the conference with 66 aces and also totaled 428 digs. 

• Sara Rose Warlick – Rose Warlick was named Second Team All-Region after totaling 273 kills on the season. Warlick also had 351 digs.