Volleyball Concludes Regular Season with Pair of Sweep Defeats

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. and McPHERSON, Kan. – Avila volleyball (7-19, 3-10 KCAC) rounded out the regular season slate of competition for the 2023 campaign with a pair of sweeps at the hands of conference foes, falling in straights at Evangel on Wednesday and at McPherson on Saturday.

Even with the two losses, Avila's three wins in league play are going to be enough to get the Eagles into the KCAC Tournament for the third straight year under head coach Marylyn Mozena – neither York nor Friends will be able to win enough games to knock the Eagles out of the KCAC's 12-team field. All that remains to be seen is when and where Avila's first round postseason game will be: the conference will reveal their bracket later this weekend.

On Wednesday, Avila made its first trip to Springfield this season to take on Evangel, and the Valor (13-12, 8-4 KCAC) pulled off the straight sets victory in the two former HAAC foes' first meeting as members of the KCAC. Avila got out to a brilliant start, scoring the first four points of the night and eight of the first 11, forcing an early Evangel timeout.

Avila ultimately led 14-7 after an ace from Sydney Owens and a kill from Maddie Jones, but the Valor fired off four straight kills to start a rally, and finally tied it up at 16 apiece. Avila maintained a slim one-point lead until the Valor scored six in a row to take their biggest lead of the night, and Sharayah Seymour finally finished things off with a kill to hand Evangel set one 25-20.

The Eagles were unable to rediscover any of the success they created early in the match in the final two sets, and Evangel moved on to a sweep win. After trailing early the Eagles awoke in the middle of the second set thanks to back-to-back aces from Abigail Blake to get as close as 17-15, but the Valor held firm and scored the final four points to win set two 25-17. Blake delivered another ace to give Avila the first point of set three, but the Eagles never led again after that, and Evangel cruised to a 25-10 win to wrap up the match in straights.

Middle blocker Vivianna Sanchez had an unreal night for Evangel, firing in 12 kills against one error (.688 hitting) while Bella Wakley had 10 kills and Seymour had nine. Jones led the Eagles with seven kills while Owens had five on .333 hitting; Blake led the team with 17 digs along with the three aces.

A few days later, Avila hit the road again to take on McPherson on the final Saturday of the regular season. The Eagles really had no answer for the Bulldog offense after a close first set – McPherson (19-7, 9-4 KCAC) hit .500 or better as a team in the final two sets to earn the sweep and ultimately help lock up a first-round bye in the KCAC Tournament next week.

Petra Fernandez led the charge for the Bulldogs with 15 kills on .520 hitting, and Hadley Waldren added in ten on .750 hitting, steered by 39 assists from veteran setter Cynarah Rodriguez. Jones and Diamond Sedlak tied for the Avila lead with seven kills each, while Siobhan Dittmer rebounded for six kills on .556 hitting.

Avila knows it will be in the KCAC Tournament field next week, but the Eagles must now await the announcement of their first round opponent, which will be revealed by the conference later this weekend. Further details will be posted on our website and social media when they are made available; the entire KCAC Tournament will be streamed live on the KCAC Network.