Greenville, IL, 11/6/21 – It was SLIAC Conference Tournament time for the Westminster College volleyball team. The team took the floor in the SLIAC Semifinals to take on the Spalding University Golden Eagles with a trip to the championship game on the line. The Blue Jays hit a sizzling .248 as a team in the match and despite dropping the second set rebounded to take down the Golden Eagles 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-20, 25-16). The win advanced the Blue Jays to the SLIAC Championship for the third straight season. The Blue Jays improved to 14-15 overall while the Golden Eagles end their season at
10-13 overall.
The hot hitting Blue Jays were led by Eryka Wanyonyi (Columbia, MO / Hickman) as she recorded 19 kills in the match. Haley Menke (O'Fallon, MO / Fort Zumwalt West) was close behind with 15 kills, Claire Whitehouse (St. Louis, MO / Parkway South) with 11 kills and Emma Geier (Versailles, Mo. / Morgan County R-2) was also in double figures with ten. Whitehouse hit an incredible .476 for the match. Erica Schrader (Imperial, MO / St. Pius X) was on fire defensively recording a season high 27 digs, Wanyonyi recorded 14 digs and setter Gretchen Durbala (Burlington, IA / Burlington) chipped in 11 digs for the team. Durbala would also lead the team with 49 assists. The Blue Jays were led at the net by Payton Bledsoe (Mexico, MO / Mexico) with two total blocks. Sophie Reimer (St. Charles, MIO / Lutheran) served up three aces to lead the team.
The Blue Jays advanced to the SLIAC Tournament Championship. They will take on the regular season champion Greenville University later on this evening. The match is set for 6:00 p.m. The winner will earn the automatic bit to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
##
