Volleyball Dominates Union to Move Into AAC Final

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – No. 25 Reinhardt volleyball put together one of its best performances of the 2019 season on Friday in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship Semifinals in a runaway victory over Union (Ky.) in a 3-0 sweep, 25-15,25-23,25-14.

Cheetara Bing put together a team-best 13 kills while hitting .393 in the victory, and Tessa Colden collected nine scores and 12 digs (.280 hitting percentage) as the Eagles emphatically improved to 31-2 on the year.

"Great match today by our team against a good Union team," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "A lot of credit goes to the girls on the execution of the game plan today. Staff spent a lot of time putting together a pretty solid scouting report, and for the most part, the girls executed really well defensively and on the offensive side.

We were much smoother today than yesterday. We finished 1-0 today and our mentality is to enjoy tonight and prepare for a whole new season tomorrow; where we will try to go 1-0 again. All the Glory goes to God. #WePlayFor11."

The hometown club came out with a purpose in set one and set the tone from the opening whistle. Reinhardt earned 16 kills in the opening stanza while hitting .371 with just three errors. Conversely, the Bulldogs committed 11 errors en route to a 1-0 hole in the match.

Things didn't go as smoothly on offense for the Eagles in game two, however, as they saw their miscue numbers rise to nearly double-digits (nine). Union would take advantage of its opportunities in the set to try and tie the score overall. Fast forwarding to the set being all-square at 22-22, a Colden kill and a Bulldog error put Reinhardt on the doorstep of victory.

A service error by the Eagles opened the door slightly for Union, but Colden slammed it shut for a 25-23 outcome.

Goodhind's bunch would see the light at the end of the tunnel and put its foot on the gas in the eventually match-clinching stanza as it got back to hitting the ball with efficiency (.342 and 17 kills) and forcing the opposition into a negative hitting percentage (-.038).

The positive momentum for Reinhardt was too strong for Union to overcome as it found itself down by double figures and could never recover.

Defensively, Mar Vives scooped up 28 digs in the victory.

The AAC postseason championship banner is on the line tomorrow afternoon against Milligan (Tenn.) at 3 p.m. 

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For more information on Reinhardt Women's Volleyball, please click here.