KINGSPORT, Tenn.— After topping the University of Pikeville Bears during the first round of action at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament Thursday afternoon, the ninth-seeded Montreat volleyball team returned to play late Friday morning with a quarterfinal battle against the top-seeded Columbia International University Rams. The Cavaliers battled from start to finish but ultimately fell on the wrong side of a 3-set sweep in Kingsport, Tenn., ending their tournament run and 2023 campaign with a 15-11 record.
 
Kamryn Wolf got the Cavs started with a pair of points, one via a kill and the other a service ace, to offset two CIU points in the opening stages of the initial set. Karly Horn, Shalice Lynch, Alex Marsh and Katie Dickey added kills of their own early in the frame to keep Montreat within shouting distance of the AAC's regular-season champions at 10-7. Six different Cavaliers notched a kill in the first set, led by Dickey's four, but the Rams' offensive prowess proved too much to overcome. Seventeen kills combined with a .333 hitting percentage aided CIU as it won seven of the final 10 points to close out a 25-18 frame.
 
Columbia International (29-1) continued its roll by taking five of the first six points in the second set as an Elizabeth Harrington kill captured the Cavs' lone point during the span. Horn and Dickey rattled off a trio of kills that trimmed the gap to 6-4, but the Rams swiftly responded with an 8-1 spurt to build a 9-point separation (14-5) between the two sides. CIU, which racked up 13 kills without committing an attacking error, increased its advantage to as large as 17 points en route to a 25-8 second-set triumph.
 
Another quick start vaulted the top-seeded Rams out to a 4-1 lead, but Horn and Harrington teamed up for a block that slowed CIU's momentum. Moments later, Horn and Dickey tallied kills that pulled the Cavaliers within a point, and an Abby Maldonado ace paired with Jada Thomas' first kill leveled the score at 8-8. Despite the push to stay alive and force a fourth set, Columbia International held off Montreat with one final run. A 17-5 stretch to close out the frame handed the Rams a 25-13 win and a 3-set sweep over the Cavs.
 
Behind a .465 to .043 hitting disparity, CIU totaled more kills (46-25) and assists (42-24) than Montreat. The Rams also finished the contest with edges in digs (40-28), service aces (7-2) and blocks (6-2). Dickey paced the Cavaliers with eight kills, while Wolf added six of her own. Lexi Wible led the squad with her 11 digs, and Harrington did the same with her two blocks. Katie Alexander (13 assists) and Reese Davis (11 assists) split the setting duties.
 
"This match was a tough way to end the season, but it doesn't take away from what this team was able to achieve," said head coach Brittany Carpenter. "This was one of the best seasons this program has seen in years, and that is what I want our team remember."
 
The Montreat volleyball team, which secured its first winning season since 2013 and its first AAC Tournament triumph since 2012, now heads into the offseason following a 15-11 (10-10 AAC) campaign.