Berry Volleyball To Host Berry College Invitational Friday, Saturday

The Berry Vikings volleyball team will continue its season by hosting the Berry College Invitational for the second straight year this Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11 in the Cage Center.

The Vikings appeared in Birmingham-Southern College’s Hilltop Classic this past weekend, defeating Piedmont and Sewanee while falling to Birmingham-Southern and Rhodes.  Erin Godwin recorded 13 kills in the win over Piedmont while Claire Scott had 16 kills in the victory against Sewanee.  Freshman Sarah Steffan had 18 kills in the loss to Birmingham-Southern. The Vikings also faced Brenau University in Gainesville on Tuesday night, winning in five sets to bring their overall record to 4-3. Freshman setter Stephanie Quinn had 53 assists in the win, while Claire Scott added 14 kills.

The Berry College Invitational will play host to five schools other than Berry, including Covenant College (1-2), LaGrange College (0–5), Methodist University (3-0), Mississippi College (3-2) and Oglethorpe University (1-0).

“Three of the teams come from very strong Division III volleyball programs and the other two are programs on their way up,” head volleyball coach Mika Robinson said. “So, it should be very good competition for the weekend.”

Berry has already played Covenant once this season, defeating the Lady Scots in four sets last week in Lookout Mountain. Mississippi College also appeared in the Hilltop Classic, but did not meet Berry in the event.

The Berry College Invitational has grown since its introduction last year, in which four teams, including Berry, participated. The Vikings completed a three-win sweep and finished as the only undefeated team in last year’s tournament.

“This year, our first goal is to win all five matches. But beyond that, our goal is play more consistently,” Robinson said. “The past week we have had matches where we have played really well and we want to bring that high level of play to every match.”

In this year’s Invitational, Berry will play five matches total, facing LaGrange and Methodist on Friday and meeting Oglethorpe, Covenant and Mississippi College on Saturday.

“It is always great to play at home,” Robinson said. “This is a team that plays with a lot of energy and that is always more fun when you are front of your home crowd.” The Vikings’ first game is at 3 p.m., on Friday.

The full tournament schedule follows.

FRIDAY
3 p.m.  Berry v. Lagrange (Court 1)
3 p.m.  Mississippi v. Covenant (Court 2)
5 p.m.  Lagrange v. Oglethorpe  (Court 1)
5 p.m.  Methodist v. Mississippi (Court 2)
7 p.m.  Berry v. Methodist (Court 1)
7 p.m.  Oglethorpe v. Covenant (Court 2)

SATURDAY
11 a.m. Berry v. Oglethorpe (Court 1)
11 a.m. Mississippi v. Lagrange (Court 2)
1 p.m.   Berry v. Covenant (Court 1)
1 p.m.   Methodist v. Lagrange (Court 2)
3 p.m.   Oglethorpe v. Mississippi (Court 1)
3 p.m.   Covenant v. Methodist (Court 2)
5 p.m.    Berry v. Mississippi (Court 1)
(Only one match scheduled at 5 p.m., Saturday)