14th-seeded Lady Senators lose opening match of NJCAA DII Volleyball Championship to 19th-seeded Carl Sandburg 

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – 14th-seeded Walters State won the opening set Wednesday afternoon over 19th-seeded Carl Sandburg in the first round of the NJCAA DII Volleyball Championship but dropped the next three, falling 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-21, 25-20).

With the loss, Walters State dropped to 26-6 overall. The Lady Senators will play in the consolation bracket tomorrow at 9 am CT against the loser of Richard Bland and Enterprise State.

Alyssa Campbell led the way for Walters State with 13 kills, while Lauren Mims had 11 kills, 19 digs and four assists. Other contributors were Catherine Sweeney with five kills and two aces, Veda Barton with seven kills and six block assists, Rylee Haynie with six kills and seven block assists, Olivia Brown with 19 assists, Payton Brown with 15 digs and Annah Cate Hyatt with 15 assists and 11 digs. 

Walters State fell behind early 9-2 in the opening set, before the Lady Senators got a kill by Barton, an ace by Hyatt and a kill by Campbell that made it 9-6. Carl Sandburg got the lead back to seven at 16-9, but Walters State continued to chip away as Campbell had a kill, Haynie and Barton had a block and an error made it 16-12. 

Carl Sandburg scored two more points to make it 18-13, but Walters State got kills by Haynie and Mims and a block by Barton and Sweeney that made it 18-17. The Lady Senators finally grabbed a 20-19 advantage after a block by Sweeney and scored twice more on kills by Campbell and Hyatt that made it 22-19. Carl Sandburg made one final push to make it 22-21, but Walters State got kills by Mims, Campbell and Sweeney to close out the set at 25-21. 

In the second set, the Lady Senators fell behind early again, this time 8-3. Walters State rallied and cut it to 9-7 following a kill by Campbell and block by Surber, but Carl Sandberg continued to push and led 15-9. Walters State cut it to 16-12 on a kill by Mims, but the Chargers closed strong, taking the set 25-15. 

The Chargers carried that momentum over and scored the first three points of the third set to lead 6-2 early. The Lady Senators got a kill by Haynie and ace by Payton Brown, but the Chargers led 10-7 after back-to-back kills. The Lady Senators bounced back with three straight points to tie the set back up and the two teams battled from there. 

Walters State got the lead at 18-17 on kills by Sweeney, Mims and Campbell and then led 20-18 following an ace by Mims. However, Carl Sandburg caught fire and scored seven of the final eight points to go up 2-1 in the match.

The fourth set was more of the same, as the Chargers scored the first four points of the set. Walters State bounced back with six straight, thanks to kills by Surber, Mims and Barton. The Lady Senators then led 9-6 after a kill by Mims, but the Chargers scored five straight to get the lead back. Carl Sandburg went on a run from there and led 20-14 before Walters State rallied one final time with six straight points. During the run, Barton had two kills and a block while Haynie and Mims had kills.

However, the Chargers regained composure and took the final five points to win the set and match.