Bears Fall to Owens in National Semifinals
Fourth-ranked Dallas College Brookhaven's volleyball team fell to second-ranked Owens Community College in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III semifinals Friday in Rochester, Minnesota. The Bears dropped the match, 25-17, 25-22, 25-20.
It snapped a 16-match win streak for Brookhaven (24-10) that dated back to Sept. 16.
The Bears will play seventh-ranked Century College (24-6) for third place in Saturday's 2 p.m. CT consolation final. Owens meets College of DuPage for the national championship.
Brookhaven was outhit, .239 to .121, but had 38 kills to Owens' 36. Ariel Austin had nine kills, while Natalie Hawkins and Cearria Traylor both had eight. Kelsey Trevino finished with six. Hawkins had a .316 attack rate, while Traylor hit .400.
Owens took a 16-9 in the first set, but Brookhaven cut it to 17-14 on Trevino's kill. Owens bumped the lead to 21-15 on a kill by Graisyn Yoder before Hawkins' kill forced a sideout. After a putaway by Madison Beasley to pull the Bears within four, Owens ran off the next four points to close the opening set.
Owens got out to a six-point lead 20 serves into the second set when Alexis Sarvo put down a ball from Emily Fallis. The Bears cut it to 14-10 on an ace by Jadyn Ketner. Ava Sholtis had an ace of her own for Owens as the Express stretched its lead to 17-11. Traylor found Austin for a kill, and combined with Hawkins on a block as the Bears drew within, 20-17. Trevino banged down the next ball to make it a two-point differential.
Following an Owens sideout, Traylor and Trevino had back-to-back kills, pulling Brookhaven within one, 21-20. The Bears tied it at 22 on an Owens attack error. But the Express secured the final three points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Sarvo's kill gave Owens a 14-9 lead in the third set. Brookhaven cut it to 17-15 on Ketner's ace. Maddie White's kill pushed the Express up, 21-18. Austin had a kill to keep the Bears within two. After Traylor banged down a ball from Camryn Dawley to make it 22-20, Owens ran off the final three points to advance to the finals.
Dawley had 23 assists and 11 digs. Trevino and Austin each had 10 digs. Ketner finished with 19 digs and two aces.
Brookhaven was outblocked, 9-3. Owens had 11 aces to Brookhaven's five.
The Bears will attempt to duplicate their 2019 finish at the national tournament when they responded from a three-set loss to Owens in the semifinals to beat Rochester Community and Technical College in five sets for third place.