CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Lady Tiger Volleyball will be making their sixth appearance in the NCCAA National Championship in Kissimmee, Fla. Dec. 1-3 after a three-set victory tonight over Bluefield College in the Powell Athletic Center, 25-15, 25-16, 25-19.
 
Bluefield, which plays in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, was outhit .330 to .196 and fell victim to a heavy attack on the part of CU. Campbellsville used a 45-32 kill advantage to put the Rams on their heels in the NCCAA Mid-East Region title match.
 
Trailing 6-3 in the first set, Campbellsville's Katie Johnson served seven straight points, four of them aces, and flipped the momentum — momentarily — with CU taking a 12-7 lead. Bluefield would close to within 13-11, but the Lady Tigers (27-12) used a variety of kills from Maria Coelho, Inoa Fields, Julia Fonseca and Jessie Stone to push their lead to 18-11. A 7-3 run ended the set, 25-15, with CU hitting a robust .414.
 
Fonseca and Coelho led the charge in the initial set with four kills apiece while Johnson collected five service aces. Bluefield's Kaitlyn Shaver led everyone with six kills.
 
Fields served four straight points to start the second set, but Bluefield (21-20) hung tough and only trailed 8-7 until Johnson and Coelho created separation with successive kills. After Coelho and Fonseca combined for a block, CU led 13-8 and forced a timeout by Rams coach Buddy Gallemore.
 
Out of the break, Campbellsville held a two-point lead at 17-15. Fonseca sliced a kill down the line and Stone picked up her third kill of the set and CU led 20-15. Cassidy Mull's kill gave Campbellsville a 22-16 lead and the Lady Tigers closed it out on a diagonal kill by Stone, 25-16.
 
Fonseca picked up five kills in the set to lead the Lady Tigers with nine.
 
In the third, Jessie Pendleton's ace and Annija Abolina's three kills gave CU a 5-2 lead. That was built to 16-10 and the Lady Tigers held off a short-lived Bluefield rally to win, 25-19.
 
Coelho and Fonseca led the way on offense with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Stone had eight and Abolina six.
 
The Rams' Shaver led everyone with 14 kills.
 
Inoa Fields had 34 assists and Pendleton and Johnson led a 51-39 advantage in digs with 14 and 10, respectively. Johnson added seven aces to her stat line that included five kills.
 
 
Four Lady Tigers were named to NCCAA Division I Mid-East All Region Team
 
First Team
1.       Annija Abolina, Campbellsville
2.       Kelly Aholt, Belhaven
3.       Maria Coelho, Campbellsville
4.       Inoa Fields, Campbellsville
5.       Abbey Herman, Belhaven
6.       Ellen Johnson, Bluefield
7.       Camryn McCroskey, Bluefield
8.       Jessie Pendleton, Campbellsville
9.       Kaitlyn Shaver, Bluefield
10.     Blaykleigh Smythe, Belhaven
 
Honorable Mention
1.       Jackie Gunderson, Belhaven
2.       Lexia Mocarski, Bluefield
 
 
You can follow Lady Tiger Volleyball through Twitter @CvilleTigers and @CUTigerVball, on Facebook at Campbellsville Tigers and on the web at www.campbellsvilletigers.com.