AUGUSTA, Ga. - Playing in their first PBC Championship Game since 2007, the Lander Volleyball team was one set away from winning the title but the Augusta Jaguars came back and took the fourth and fifth sets to take the match and the championship, 3-2.
Lander drops to 27-6 while Augusta improves to 27-4.
The Bearcats had to play from behind for pretty much the entire first set. A kill from Katie Miller (Sugar City, Idaho) and subsequent ace would tie the set at two but the Jaguars would take over from there, taking the first set 25-20.
Lander got two quick kills from McCayla Willingham (Beaufort, S.C.) and Miller to jump out early in the second set but Augusta rallied off four straight points to take a 4-2 lead.Â
A 3-0 Lander run led by kills from
Blondie Penaflor (Henderson, Nev.) and
Christina Aguayo (Las Cruces, N.M.) tied the set at seven. After a service error at 7-7 to give Augusta the lead the Bearcat defense would force four consecutive Jaguar errors to give Lander an 11-8 lead. Augusta continued to keep pressure on, keeping the margin within three points until a 3-0 run gave the Bearcats some breathing room at 18-13. The Jaguars tried to get back into the set with a late run winning six of eight points to make it 24-21 but a Miller kill would give the tie the match at one set a piece.
The third set was a back and forth affair until Lander, leading 8-7, won seven of the next nine points to take a 15-9 lead. The run was capped by kills from Aguayo and Olivia Dow (Pickens, S.C.). The Bearcats continued to keep the Jaguars at arms length and led 23-18 before a furious 5-1 run by the hosts forced a timeout by Head Coach Jeff Reynolds. The Bearcats came out of the timeout and got a kill from Aguayo to put them one set away from a conference title.
The fourth set was once again back and forth to start but a 4-1 Augusta run gave them a 12-8 lead before the Bearcats responded by forcing three Jaguar errors in a 4-0 run to tie the set at 12. However, Augusta responded with a 4-0 run of their own to make it 16-12, Jaguars. The Bearcats fought back to eventually tie the set at 18 led by kills from Willingham and Aguayo as well as a service ace from Patricia Pantoja (Barceloneta, Puerto Rico). Unfortunately, the Jaguars would win seven of the next ten points to force a decisive fifth set.
Lander came out on fire to start the fifth set taking a commanding 7-3 lead and forcing an Augusta timeout. After the timeout, the Bearcats would make it 8-3 on a block by Penaflor. However, the Jaguars responded with five straight points to tie the set at eight. Lander would take brief one-point leads a couple of times but Augusta responded right back to tie the set each time and then closed the game on a 5-1 run to take their fifth conference title in six years.
After the game, Katie Miller and Lauren Dow were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Bearcats now await to see where they will be seeded in the upcoming NCAA Southeast Regional on Monday night at 7:30 PM. The host school is TBD between Augusta and Wingate. Regional play will start on Thursday, November 30th with the Regional Championship that Saturday.
