Albany State volleyball falls in SIAC championship match; awaits NCAA tournament selection show

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Albany State’s 17-match winning streak ended Thursday in the SIAC volleyball championship. The Lady Golden Rams will find out Sunday whether their season continues.

Spring Hill rallied after dropping the opening set to beat Albany State 17-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-23 at the Health and Physical Education Complex. The Lady Golden Rams (26-9) now await a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament. The 64-team field will be announced at 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, on NCAA.com.

Twenty-three conferences receive automatic bids, leaving 41 at-large spots. The NCAA considers only best-of-five matches in its selection process. To be eligible, a team must play at least 15 matches and face Division II opponents in at least 60% of them.

Albany State opened the final with 12 kills and just two attack errors, hitting .476 on its way to a 25-17 first-set win. Spring Hill answered with 19 kills in the second set, then held the Lady Golden Rams to a .069 hitting percentage in the third to take a 2-1 lead.

The Lady Golden Rams found their offense again in the fourth, hitting .375 with 11 kills and two errors. Spring Hill countered with 19 kills and hit .441 to close out the match 25-23. Samaya Hennessy led the Badgers (24-8) with a match-high 19 kills, and Claire Hayes added 16.

Senior outside hitter Jarianis Perez led Albany State with 16 kills and five digs. Aleiah Carr added nine kills, while Trinity Britt and Liannette Burgos finished with 15 and 14 assists, respectively. Senior libero Myra Lopez led the team with 11 digs.

The Lady Golden Rams went 18-1 in conference play under SIAC Coach of the Year Verniece Graham and won twice in Fort Valley to reach the title match. Their next opponent, if they draw one, will be revealed Sunday night.