WINGATE, N.C. – The Converse University volleyball team fell 3-1 to Wingate University in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday evening inside Cuddy Arena.

The Valkyries historic season comes to a close with a 23-10 overall record, while top seeded Wingate advances to the second round to face Augusta on Saturday afternoon. This season, Converse accomplished a plethora of firsts in program history. This year's team set the program record for wins in a season at 23, and brought home both the Northwest Division crown and the Conference Tournament Championship.

Mackenzie Day will go down in the history books with one of the best single season performances in program history. The Palmetto State native concludes her career as the first Valkyrie to reach 2,000 career digs. Day also holds the school record for digs in match, digs in a season and digs in a career.   

Noemia Chiacchio concludes the 2024 season with 366 kills which ranks fifth all-time in a single season for the Valkyries. Chiacchio's 64 service aces are the third most in a single season and she becomes the first Converse athlete to record 60 or more assists in a season since 2007. Ariel Bryant concluded the season with 320 kills, which ranks seventh all-time. It was also the first time since the mid 2000's that the Valkyries had at least two players with 300 or more kills.

Alysha Arroyo finishes the season with 763 assists, which ranks third all-time in Valkyrie history. Senior Tori Barr concluded the season with a team best 100 blocks, which ranks sixth all-time in the program record books.  

Wingate opened the first set on a 5-2 run against the Valkyries defense. A kill by Megan Carpenter jump started a small run for the Valkyries offense as AC Garbade and Noemia Chiacchio blocked the next point to pull within a point at 5-4. The Valkyries kept up the momentum offensively and tied the opening set at seven. A solo block by Alayah Robertson gave the Valkyries their first lead of the match at 8-7. Converse then used a 5-1 run to take a 12-9 lead over the #1 ranked team in the region and forced the Bulldogs to use their first timeout of the period.

Coming out of the timeout break, the Valkyries won the next two points to build upon their lead to 14-9. The Bulldogs countered with a 4-1 run and forced the Valkyries to use a timeout up 15-13. Out of the timeout break, the Bulldogs stormed back and tied the set at 16. A few points later, Wingate held a 19-18 first set lead and forced Converse to use their final timeout of the period. Out of the timeout break, Converse won the next two points and took back the momentum at 20-19. Wingate called their final timeout of the period in response to the Valkyries offensive spurt. The Valkyries won the opening set 25-22, with Ariel Bryant collecting the final kill of the set for the Valkyries.

Converse opened the second set on a 5-2 run against the Bulldogs. Wingate countered with a 5-2 spurt of their own and tied the match at seven all. Moments later, Wingate took their first lead of the set at 9-8 following a service ace. Trailing 10-8 Converse called their first timeout of the period to calm the Wingate offense. The Bulldogs won the next three points following the timeout, before Carpenter ended the run with kill. A few moments later, the Valkyries were forced to call their second timeout of the period down 16-9. The Valkyries scored a few more times in the second set, but the Bulldogs tied the match up at 25-17.

Wingate came out swinging in the third set and forced Converse to call an early timeout up 7-4. The Valkyries began to chip away at the Bulldogs lead and were with a pair of points at the 10-8 mark of the third set. The back-and-forth continued between the two teams and the Valkyries tied the set up at 15 following a service ace. A few points later and the Bulldogs called a timeout trailing 17-16. The timeout proved to be a pivotal point in the set as Wingate retook the lead at 20-18 a few points later. Converse called their final timeout following a long rally that resulted in Wingate taking a 22-19 advantage. The Bulldogs went on to win the third set 25-20 over the Valkyries.

Through the first 15-points of the fourth set, Wingate held a 9-6 advantage over the Valkyries. One point later, Converse called their first timeout of the set trailing 10-6. The timeout worked to the Valkyries advantage as they won the next two points against the Bulldogs. A few moments later the Valkyries were forced to use their second timeout trailing 16-9. The Valkyries stormed back on a 5-3 run and put pressure on the Bulldogs, forcing the top ranked team to use a timeout. Wingate went on to win the final set 25-16.

Converse finished with 52 points, 42 kills, 5 aces, 5 blocks, 40 assists, and 80 digs. Chiacchio led the team with 13 kills, Bryant added 10 kills and Garbade contributed 10 kills in the loss. Jayden Johnson led the team with 16 assists, Alysha Arroyo finished second on the team with 13 assists. Day finished with a team best 27 digs, while Johnson and Bryant completed double-double outings with 16 digs and 11 digs respectively.

Next Up:
This will conclude the 2024 volleyball season, for all the latest news and information on the Valkyries volleyball program log onto govalkyries.com today.

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