Home|Sports|Bahamians take part in collegiate volleyballSports
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Simba FrenchSend an emailApril 18, 2023 179 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The collegiate volleyball season is winding down and Bahamians were in action over the weekend looking to help their schools claim conference titles on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II circuit.
Five Bahamians are on the Benedict College Tigers team which head into the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Volleyball Tournament on a three-game winning streak. On Saturday, they took down Fort Valley State three sets to two.
The McKendree University Bearcats’ Kyle Wilson was instrumental in helping them to be the first number seven seed in history to win a game in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament.
Heading into the tournament, the Bearcats were on a 10-game losing streak and finished the season with a 6-15 win/loss record and a 1-13 conference record. That did not discourage them as they took down number two seeded Loyola University Chicago Ramblers in their first game of the MIVA Tournament.
The Ramblers won the first set, 25-21. The Bearcats and the Ramblers were in a fierce battle in the second set and the Bearcats held on to win, 25-23. The Bearcats went into the third set ready to play and won that set, 25-20, to take a 2-1 lead. The Bearcats let the fourth set slip away, losing that set to the Ramblers, 25-20. The Ramblers tied the match at two sets apiece. In the fifth and decisive set, the Bearcats won, 15-12.
Wilson finished the game with 21 kills. He also had two aces, one block and an assist.
The win puts them in the MIVA semifinals where they will take on the Ohio State University Buckeyes. That match will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
For the Tigers, Bahamians Ras Jesse Delancy, Donovan Wilmott, Terran Walkin, Clint Forbes and Zion Beckford were in action. They end their season with an 11-7 record, 7-4 SIAC. They are third in the SIAC standings.
In their final game, Benedict won in five sets over Fort Valley State, prevailing 25-22, 14-25, 21-25-21, 27-25 and 15-9.
Delancy led the way with 29 kills while Beckford and Wilmott had 14 and nine kills, respectively. Walkin and Delancy had two aces each in the win. Wilmott finished the game with a team-high four blocks while Beckford had three. Walkin and Forbes finished with four and three assists, respectively. Forbes finished with 15 digs and Walkin had 12 digs.
The next fixture on the Tigers’ schedule will be announced later. That game will be on Thursday in the SIAC tournament.