NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. –  The Converse University volleyball team continued their historic season on Thursday evening inside the North Charleston Athletic Center, the Valkyries defeated fourth seeded North Greenville 3-0.

Converse improves to 21-9 overall on the season and advances to their first ever Conference Carolinas semifinals match. North Greenville ends their season with an 18-13 record and a 14-4 record in Conference Carolinas action.

The Valkyries came out ready to play in their first quarterfinals appearance. Converse opened the match on a 5-2 run, before a North Greenville counter attack that tied the match at six. Leading 10-7 following an Ella Ruckman kill and a service ace, forced the Trailblazers to call their first timeout of the period.

The timeout did not stop the Valkyries offense in the opening set as they won the next five points. Converse forced North Greenville to use their second timeout of the period up 15-7. Coming out of the timeout break the Trailblazers ended the Valkyries eight point run with a kill by Elena Dyer. The Valkyries ended the first set on a 10-7 run and won the opening set by a final score of 25-14.

In the second set the Valkyries started out the period with back-to-back aces by Alysha Arroyo. The Valkyries momentum continued as Alayah Robertson recorded back-to-back kills and Converse held a 4-0 advantage. Arroyo hit her third service ace of the set and the Valkyries drew their lead to five before North Greenville got their first point of the set. The Trailblazers were forced to use a timeout early in the period, following back-to-back kills from Megan Carpenter and Noemia Chiacchio.

The timeout proved to be effective as the Trailblazers won the next three points. The Valkyries withstood the momentum shift and countered with a run of their own, holding an 11-5 advantage. A 4-0 counter attack by the Trailblazers forced Converse to take a timeout up 11-9. With the set tied at 12 the Valkyries won a momentum shifting point following a long rally. The Valkyries went up 14-12 and forced North Greenville to use their second timeout of the period.

Fast forward a few points and the set was tied at 19. A service error by North Greenville gave the Valkyries the window of opportunity they needed. Ariel Bryant fired a kill past the North Greenville defense and the Valkyries led 21-19. A service ace by Chiacchio and an attack error by the Trailblazers had the Valkyries out in front 23-19. Ella Ruckman posted the final kill of the set as the Valkyries went up two sets to none following a 25-21 second set win.

The third set was a tightly contested period between the two squads with each point coming at a premium. Falling behind 7-5 the Valkyries called a timeout looking to break up the Trailblazers momentum. The timeout proved to be pivotal as the Valkyries tied the match at seven, over the next several minutes of game action the two teams traded points and remained tied into the middle portion of the period.

With the third period tied at 20, Carpenter hit her second consecutive kill and the Valkyries took their first lead of the set at 21-20. North Greenville called timeout and won the next point following the break to tie the set once again. In the final moments of the third period, Converse fended off a pair of set points and retook the lead at 26-25. North Greenville took their final timeout of the set trying ice AC Garbade at the service line. The Valkyries didn't waiver in the final moments as Bryant collected the final three kills of the match.

Converse finished the match with 60 points, 43 kills, 12 aces, 5 blocks, 41 assists, and 51 digs. Bryant led the team with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Chiacchio finished second on the team with a 10 kill and 10 dig performance. Megan Carpenter finished third on the team with 8 kills, while Mackenzie Day finished third on the team with 9 digs. Alysha Arroyo led the team with six aces and 19 assists, while Tori Barr had a team high three blocks. Jayden Johnson finished second on the team with 13 assists and both Bryant and Alayah Robertson finished with a pair of blocks.

Next Up:
The Converse volleyball team advances to the semifinals round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. The Valkyries will play top seed Emmanuel tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. in the North Charleston Athletic Center.  

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