SALEM, VA — The incredible 2024 University of La Verne volleyball season ended Wednesday night in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship Quarterfinals. The Leopards fell in four sets to No.1 seed and two-time defending National Champions Juniata College.
The Leopards advanced a round further than last year and finished with their best season since 2009 when they ended as the national runner-up. La Verne completed the season 26-6 with an NCAA Regional Championship, the program's first SCIAC Tournament Championship, two All-Americans, three All-Region selections, and four All-SCIAC awards. It is the 10th time in team history that the squad has won 25 or more games.
La Verne battled to the last point. Trailing 24-19 in the decisive fourth set, La Verne rallied off five straight points to tie the game before the Eagles eventually came away with the victory.
"I'm just really proud of this team and what they have been able to accomplish. It was our goal to go one step further than last season and win a regional and go to the Elite 8. To achieve that goal is really special. This was not an easy season and had some big ups and downs but this team just never gave up and really bought into the vision of the program," said University of La Verne Head Volleyball Coach Jeff Hendershot.
First Team All-American Mya Ray led the Leopards with 20 kills, 15 digs, and two aces. Lauren Gott added 14 kills. All-American Honorable Mention Allison Whiteman finished with eight kills and two aces.
Zacky Coaston posted five blocks and Mariah Ray followed with four. Vanessa Marquez dished 21 assists. Madison Smith totaled 23 digs and eight assists, and Malia Capistrano tallied 16 digs and 13 assists.
The Leopards were ready for the moment and not intimidated by the Eagles' pedigree. La Verne snapped Juniata's 76-set winning streak, dating back to September 14, to take the early lead.
The Leopards got the momentum going early with back-to-back points off a kill and ace from Mya Ray. Coaston and Mariah Ray teamed up for a block and Smith followed with an ace to tie the score 5-5. Head Coach Jeff Hendershot took advantage of the replay review system used at the NCAA Championship and won a key coach's challenge to get a kill from Whiteman, putting the score at 9-7. Then Mya Ray got hot, rattling off three of the next four kills to even the score 10-10.
Down 21-20, Ray and Gott posted back-to-back kills to give La Verne a 22-21 advantage late. The Leopards again won a challenge that reversed a point to extend the Leopards' lead to 23-21. Mya Ray brought up set point with a big kill and an attack error gave the Leopards the upset opening-set win.
The Eagles found their rhythm in the second set and took a 12-6 lead off back-to-back kills from Cortney Wiliams. Consecutive kills from Juniata's Mackenzie Coley extended their lead to 20-10. The Leopards couldn't recover, falling in the set 25-12.
After falling behind 2-0 in the third, the Ray sisters fired off successive kills to even the score and then teamed up for a block to tie the frame at 3-3. The squad kept battling with neither one able to take a significant advantage. Gott served an ace to tie the score 8-8 but the Eagles answered with a 3-0 run to retake the lead.
La Verne took its first lead in the set,14-13, after back-to-back kills from Gott and an attack error from the Eagles. But La Verne couldn't slow a Juniata surge and fell behind 2-1 in the match.
The Eagles took a big 10-2 lead in the fourth but the Leopards kept fighting. La Verne chipped away at the deficit until a kill from Audrey Muth brought up a set point for the Eagles. The Leopards showed grit and rallied off five points. Gott and Coaston started the run with a block, then a Whiteman kill and two attack errors followed. Gott slammed down a kill to tie the set 24-24 and gave La Verne a chance to force a fifth set. But Juniata scored the final two points to end the upset bid.
"To experience the stage that the national quarterfinal presents is huge in our development as a team and program. To be able to showcase our competitive spirit against Juniata was amazing and I think primes our still relatively young group for more success in the future," added Hendershot.
