For the second year in a row, the second-ranked Southern Virginia University men’s volleyball team is headed to the Final Four of the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Knights (33-1 overall, 7-0 Continental Volleyball Conference) advanced by earning a 3-1 win over eighth-ranked Messiah University on Saturday at Washington and Lee University’s Holekamp Gym. In the semifinals, scheduled to take place on Friday at 5 p.m. at Roanoke College’s Cregger Center, the Knights will face CVC rival Juniata College (31-4 overall, 6-1 CVC). The championship match will also be at the Cregger Center on Sunday or Monday, depending if SVU wins its semifinal.
In the quarterfinals, SVU lost the first set before bouncing back for a 28-30, 25-19, 2522, 25-18 victory.
Feeding off the energy from their home crowd, the Knights quickly went on the attack during the opening frame. They jumped out to a 13-6 lead, but the Falcons (26-4) showed resilience and claimed the lead late in the set.
Buoyed by several service errors from their opponents, the Knights had opportunities to close out the opening frame, but it was Messiah who assumed control, finishing SVU off with three straight points to snatch the important 1-0 lead.
Looking to recapture the momentum, SVU’s Kyler Evans recorded back-to-back points to give his team the lead. SVU would retain the advantage for the remainder of the set, equaling the score at one set apiece after garnering four of the last five points in the second.
In the third set, stellar play from Messiah would force the Knights to come from behind again. After SVU trailed 22-21, Evans provided a much-needed kill to give way for Jayton Hall, the Knights’ spark plug of the weekend, to work his magic.
Hall delivered an ace and helped SVU collect the next three points, claiming the set to bring Messiah to a do or die fourth set. He ultimately finished the match with three aces, bringing his weekend total to eight.
Two attacking errors from the Falcons had the Knights headed in the right direction at the beginning of the fourth set. At the midway point, SVU head coach Tom Peterson’s squad had built a 12-8 lead to force a Messiah timeout. However, the Falcons went on a run of their own during the next several minutes to claim an 18-17 lead.
With the pressure building but the hometown crowd behind SVU, Christian Sheaffer led the Knights on a furious rally, delivering two aces during a stretch of eight consecutive points to claim the set, match and a spot in the national semifinals.
Sheaffer led SVU with 12 kills, Evans added 11 kills, and Samuel Candled had nine. Gehrig Tomlin dished out 33 assists to lead the Knights, Jeremy Brown paced SVU with eighth digs, and Kristo Bianchin had a team-high four blocks.
Prior to the quarterfinals, the Knights won the CVC championship for the second consecutive year, defeating Juniata College 3-0 in the finals on April 12 at Holekamp Gym. In the NCAA tournament, SVU had a bye in the first round before beating St. Joseph’s University Long Island (23-9) in the second round on Friday at Holekamp Gym.
In Friday’s match, Brown led SVU with 12 kills and had three aces, Sheaffer had 11 kills and five blocks, and Evans recorded 10 kills and three blocks. Tolman dished out 39 assists to lead the Knights, while Justin Madsen collected a team-high 15 digs, Bianchin paced SVU with six blocks, and Hall had a team-high five aces.
For updates and more on SVU volleyball, visit knightathletics. com
