Mt. Carmel, Ill. – Wabash Valley's straight-set win over Lake Land Thursday in the first round of the NJCAA Region 24 volleyball tournament was important for the obvious of reasons:
The win sent the Warriors on to the Final Four and a matchup against top-seed Kaskaskia in Mattoon on Friday at 4 p.m.
And it guaranteed a trip to Iowa for the District championship tournament in one week.
But, when given a chance to reflect, Warrior coach Mark Colvin said the win was important for a broader reason:
"This win validates our season," he said.
WVC improved to 14-6 with the victory, which matches the win total from last year, despite playing 16 fewer matches in this COVID-19 shortened season. It was also the first post-season triumph in the three-year re-start of the program after a 15-year lapse.
Coming on the heels of a straight-set loss to the Lakers just 10 days earlier, and losses in two of the final three regular-season matches, the turnaround was nothing short of dramatic.
"I can't explain it," said Colvin. "We had not been playing well lately. But we came out today and played our best game. (Lake Land) tried to come back in that third game, but we wouldn't let them."
Added freshman middle hitter Malena Bixby: "We just had the right mindset tonight. We knew if we did not win tonight, we would be done. And we don't want to be done because this team is amazing and can do so much."
WVC (14-6) took control of the first two sets early and won them by identical 25-18 scores.
Lake Land, which ended its' season at 11-12, appeared frustrated on offense throughout. Part of that was due to sophomore Alondra Martinez Melendez, who led the Warriors in digs with 18, most of them against hard-hitting Laker veteran Caroline Souza.
"She hits very hard," said Melendez before showing where the brunt of Souza's kill attempts landed. "My arms hurt. But my digs were very good."
Bixby says Melendez' defense "really helped us out. That was the extra spark we needed."
Talk about a spark. With the third set tied at 13-13, it was Bixby who led a six-point breakout at the service line that Lake Land could not recover from in time in a 25-21 match-clinching third-set Warrior win.
Two of Bixby's serves landed for aces. She also added a kill and dug up a ball from the back line during her stay at the line.
"I'm always the most comfortable when I'm serving because the game is in my hands and I can do what I know how to do," Bixby said.
Bixby ended up with five aces. Elsewhere on the stat sheet, Jacklyn Simms led the way with 10 kills. Valerie Ramos Allende finished with 20 assists. Mariah Jones added two blocks for the winners.
Friday, the Warriors face undefeated GRAC champion Kaskaskia (18-1) at 4 p.m. Vincennes (14-9) meets John A. Logan (12-5) in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.
Saturday, the winners face off for the Region 24 championship at 1 p.m., preceded by the third-place game at 10 a.m.
Regardless of how they fare this weekend, all four teams still earn berths in the District tournament, set for next weekend at two locations in Iowa.