8 p.m. -- #3 Hiram (27-7) def. #2 Allegheny (28-13)
3-2 (30-23, 30-24, 25-30, 28-30, 15-13)
The third-seeded Hiram Terriers jumped out to an early lead and
then staved off a determined charge from second-seeded Allegheny
College to claim a tense 3-2 victory in the second North Coast
Athletic Conference semifinal match of the night at Wittenberg's
HPER Center. The win improved the Terriers to 27-7 on the season
and moved them into their first-ever NCAC Tournament championship
match against six-time defending champion Wittenberg at 2 p.m.
Saturday.
The Terriers were the dominant team in the first two games, in part
due to a height advantage that led to numerous blocking
opportunities and consistently altered Allegheny's plan of attack.
But in games 3 and 4, the Gators scrambled back to make a match of
it, and in Game 5, Allegheny took a seemingly commanding 7-3 lead.
However, Hiram's Shana Toth served five straight winning points to
put the Terriers back in the lead and the game seesawed back and
forth from that point until the Terriers wrapped things up with
three of the last four points that broke a 12-12 tie.
Hiram was led defensively by freshman Jennifer Hlebovy
(Poland, Ohio/Boardman), who collected 25 digs, and senior
Charity Norman (Port Washington, Ohio/Indian
Valley), who finished with 22 digs. Sophomore Beth
Groselle (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) led the team with 13
kills as the Terriers did a fine job spreading the wealth on
offense. Norman finished with 47 assists on the evening, out of 49
total for her team.
Allegheny had its fine season end with a 28-13 overall mark after a
7-1 ride through the NCAC's regular season. Junior Rhiannon
Mauk (Carlton, Pa./Cochranton) led the Gators with 19
digs, junior Katie Bradshaw (Saegertown,
Pa./Saegertown) added 14 kills to lead the Gators in that
category, and senior Dhira Dale (Guys Mills,
Pa./Saegertown) chipped in with five blocks that led the
team in that area.