Kingspoint, TN – The Webber International University Warriors faced off with the Reinhardt University Eagles for the right to be crowned AAC champions. The Eagles, being the only team to get the better of the Warriors in 2024, would take the first set and run away with the conference championship, defeating the Warriors 3-1 in four sets.
The Eagles would come out of the gates rolling in set one, taking a quick 5-0 lead and forcing an early Warriors timeout. The Warriors would start to answer back with kills from
Thoralf Schmelzer and
Ayden Keeter, but the Eagles kept pushing their lead out to as many as six points. The Warriors would take another timeout with the Eagles leading 17-10 trying to stop the momentum of the set.
Andrew Nielsen and
Kevin McCarthy would each add a kill for the Warriors late in the set, but the deficit was too large to overcome as the Warriors dropped set one to the Eagles 25-15.
The Warriors would come out like men on a mission in set two jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead behind two more kills from Schmelzer. The Eagles would keep the game close, but the Warriors continued to keep their small lead halfway through the set. The game would eventually be knotted up at 12-12, before the Eagles pushed their first lead of the set out to 14-12 and
force a Warriors timeout. The Warriors would respond with a 4-0 run with kills from
Carson Barnes and two more from Nielsen. Gunter Perea's perennial offensive attack would help put the set to bed for the Warriors with two late kills to push the Warriors to a set two victory 25-19 to even the match at 1-1.
Set three would be the deciding set in a matchup between two juggernauts. The set would remain close through the beginning portion with blows exchanged from both sides. After another kill from Nielsen, and an attacking error from an Eagles hitter, the Eagles would call a timeout with the Warriors leading 8-5. Out of the timeout, the set would start going back and forth with neither side putting multiple points together in succession. Nielsen would rack up another two kills with Perea adding another kill to his tally as the score was knotted up 13-13. The Warriors would take a timeout, trailing the Eagles 19-17 and come out of the timeout on fire with two kills from Schmelzer, and an error from the Eagles, as the Warriors grabbed the lead back 20-19. The set would reach a breaking point at 23-23, and the Eagles would throw up a service ace and a kill to win the rubber match set 25-23 and take 2-1 lead.
After a devasting set three
loss, the Warriors would not be able to answer the bell in the fourth set, as the Eagles continued their momentum run jumping out to a 10-5 lead. The Warriors would put together a small run with kills from Schmelzer and Perea, but the Eagles would push their lead out to 10 and never look back, defeating the Warriors 25-15, and taking the AAC Championship 3-1 in four sets.
The Warriors will now await the possibility of an at large bid to NAIA National Championship round.
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