BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The (RV) Lindsey Wilson volleyball team fended off a scrappy Cumberland (Tenn.) side, 3-1, in Friday afternoon's Mid-South Conference tournament semifinal. The victory pushes the Blue Raiders into Saturday's championship match for the second consecutive year and 14
th all-time.
Elisa Burzio had a team-high 19 kills along with 14 digs and three service aces. Ola Wyrzkowska contributed 18 digs and 15 kills, and
Savanah Pippin hit .500 with a career-high 16 kills.
Setters
Luiza Gonçalves – 23 assists and 15 digs -- and
Monika Szwarc – 23 assists and 12 digs -- each produced double-doubles, while
Laura Milori's career-best 35 digs paced the defense and are the most by a Blue Raider since Lauren Larzelere's 36 versus Central Methodist (Mo.) on September 10, 2021.
Cumberland scored the first point of the day on a service ace, but Lindsey Wilson swiftly countered with a 5-0 scoring run. A subsequent four-point sequence with kills from Burzio and
Elizabeth Moore extended the lead to 10-4. The Blue Raiders' advantage never exceeded six points, though it was enough to hold back the Phoenix late even as they trimmed the score to 24-22 before a Pippin kill won the set.
Lindsey Wilson led 5-3 in the second set behind three kills by Burzio and two from Wyrzykowska. Cumberland struck back with a five-point rally and slowly grew its lead to 22-16 to force a Blue Raider timeout. Out of the break, Wyrzykowska got the offense churning with a kill, then a combo block by Burzio and
Brenda Arango aided the comeback and eventually Lindsey Wilson tied the score at 22-22. The edge flip-flopped for a short moment and a Phoenix service error followed by a Burzio ace gave the Blue Raiders a commanding two-set lead in the match.
Cumberland outhit Lindsey Wilson .206 to .182 in the third set as the score, again, went beyond the 25-point threshold. The Phoenix managed to outlast the Blue Raiders late after going back-and-forth throughout the frame, outscoring Lindsey Wilson 5-2 to take the set 28-26.
In the fourth, two aces from Gonçalves helped the Blue Raiders out to a 5-0 lead. Cumberland fought back to cut the cushion down to a single point at 7-6, but another kill by Pippin sparked a four-point run that turned into an 8-3 stretch and a Phoenix timeout. The first two points out of the break were taken by Cumberland to make the score 15-11. Lindsey Wilson proceeded to go on the attack and score eight of its last 10 points on kills to seal the match.
The Blue Raiders finished with 64 kills, the second-most in a match this season, and racked up 107 digs, the most since April 27, 2021.
Lindsey Wilson awaits the winner of Friday's second semifinal match between Campbellsville (Ky.) and Cumberlands (Ky.) and will face either the Tigers or Patriots at 3 p.m. CST on Saturday, November 9 in the championship match at Bowling Green High School.
