Avila Cruises by Baptist Bible on Alumni Night

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With plenty of former Eagles making their return to Mabee Fieldhouse for Alumni Night, the current crew of Avila volleyball players (8-8) put together their most convincing win of the season so far, cruising by Baptist Bible College (3-7) in straight sets on Friday night.

The Eagle defense combined for nine total blocks over the three sets, and forced the Patriots into almost exactly twice as many attacking errors as kills, resulting in a team hit percentage of -.124 for the Patriots. On the flipside, Avila committed just five attacking errors all night, good for a team hit percentage of .295, their second-highest mark this season. BBC managed just 31 points across the three sets, including only seven in set two, both the lowest the Eagles have surrendered this season.

In all reality, Avila was in control almost immediately in every single set. The Eagles began the night by winning the first six points of the match on the serve of Chloe Brundick, and were in cruise control from there. Chase Kallevig poured in a pair of aces and D'Ovion Williams and Shay Karmazyn combined for a pair of blocks to fuel a 7-0 run to give the Eagles set point, and though the Patriots rallied to score four straight an attacking error inevitably gave the Eagles a 25-13 victory.

The second verse was even more convincing than the first. After Baptist Bible won the first point of the set, Avila once again ripped off seven straight points on the serve of Brundick, who assisted on kills for Karmazyn and Williams along the way. Not long after, Kallevig returned to the line and anchored a 9-0 Avila run with three aces, forcing a Patriot timeout that did little to slow Avila's progress. After Kallevig was retired Avila led 16-2, and from there it was smooth sailing to a 25-7 win, Avila's biggest win this season.

Brundick set up Williams for a pair of kills to kick off set three, and a service ace from Reagan Moody helped stretch the lead out to as many as ten points, 15-5. A mini Patriot rally was snuffed out by another set of back to back Williams kills, and then the Avila block took over down the home stretch: Williams and Karmazyn teamed up three times and then Karmazyn and Phoebe Riddle combined for a block on match point, helping the Eagles win seven of the night's final eight points and roll to 25-11 win and a sweep.

Williams led the way for the Eagles yet again, turning in a flawless ten kills with zero errors on 14 swings (.714 hit percentage) with five block assists. Four other Eagles had either four or five kills; Brundick picked up another double-double despite not playing the entire match; and Sydney Owens, Paige Gillund and Ava Leathers all saw consistent action to help the Eagles to a convincing win.

Up next for Avila volleyball, conference play begins with a big test: Oklahoma Wesleyan is on a hot streak and heads to Mabee Fieldhouse for the first KCAC match for both sides this Tuesday, September 20. The night begins with varsity reserve action at 5:30, followed the varsity match at 7 PM. As always, you can watch all the action live on the Avila Sports Network.