IU Kokomo wins RSC Volleyball Championship with five-set thriller over Asbury (Ky.)

11/13/2016 12:00:00 AM

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- IU Kokomo put together an impressive rally to win the 2016 River States Conference Volleyball Tournament with a thrilling, 3-2 victory over Asbury (Ky.) University in the championship match on Saturday at Cincinnati Christian.

The championship match featured the top two teams from the RSC West Division as No. 1 seed IU Kokomo squared off versus No. 2 seed Asbury.

Asbury stormed out to early control with a 25-13 win in the first set, and the Eagles were up 2-0 after a 25-22 win in the second. Asbury (17-16, 12-4 RSC) was within a few points of the championship when it led, 21-17, in the third.

But IU Kokomo (26-7, 13-3 RSC) scored eight of the last nine points to win the third set, 25-22 and get back in the match. The Cougars went on to take the fourth, 25-22, to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

The epic fifth set capped off the thrilling championship final. The final game was tied 10 times. Despite that, Asbury managed a 7-4 lead. But IU Kokomo later drew even at 8-8 on a kill by Keeana Walton. The Eagles and Cougars were tied one final time at 14-14.

That's when IU Kokomo's Mallorie Havens came up with two straight kills to win the match, 16-14. The Cougars finished with three players in double digits for kills. Walton led the offense with 18 kills followed by Elyse Younger with 15 and a .324 percentage. Lindi Thomas added 13 kills and 29 digs.

Casey Colgate tallied 52 assists and 15 digs for the Cougars, and Kaleigh Ensley had a team-high 35 digs.

The Asbury attack had Madeline Morris in with 15 kills and Lizzy Rempel with 14. The Eagles had 11 total team blocks with Kayla Morlan leading the way with eight to go along with seven kills. Bailee Settle and Carly Butler led the defense with 25 and 22 digs, respectively.

IU Kokomo advanced to the championship match by beating No. 2 seed Rio Grande, 3-0, earlier in the day Saturday. IU Kokomo won by scores of 25-15, 26-24, 25-11. Rio Grande (24-13, 11-5 RSC) was the only team in the semifinals from the RSC East Division.

Asbury advanced to the finals by ousting tournament host Cincinnati Christian, 3-1, to start the day. Asbury dropped the first set but won the match, 25-27, 25-18, 25-16, 25-22. No. 4 seed Cincinnati Christian (18-11, 9-7 RSC) had pulled the tournament's biggest upset with a win over No. 1 overall seed Point Park (Pa.) in the quarterfinals.

IU Kokomo qualifies for the NAIA National Championship Opening Round as the RSC Tournament champion. It is the second year in a row the Cougars have won the conference title to go along with last year's, the final year under the name Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The conference changed its name to River States Conference effective July 1, 2016.

Point Park (Pa.) University has also qualified for the NAIA national tournament as the RSC regular-season champions. Point Park (20-14, 15-1 RSC) was the RSC East Division champion and had the best conference record among the 12 teams.

The NAIA National Championship Opening Round is Nov. 19 at campus sites around the country. Pairings and sites will be announced on Monday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m. ET with the NAIA National Championship Selection show on NAIANetwork.com. To watch live online, click here: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/naia/portal.htm?DB_OEM_ID=27900&eventId=326185&streamType=video