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Wyoming, MI - The Grace Christian volleyball squad came into the weekend's regional tournament as the #2 seed and the host school. The field was more even this year than most, as many teams ha split with each other during the regular season. The Tigers' first matchup came on Friday night vs the #3 seed Moody Bible Institute, who Grace had also split with earlier in the year.

Semi-Final Match

In front of an electric Friday night crowd, Grace took an early 2-0 set lead in the match behind a strong hitting performance by Alexa Borgman who finished with 20 kills on the night. The Tigers also played great defensively, with 3 players in double digit digs; Kyrsten Nolen (27), Madison Postma (17), and Delany Sommers (12). This to go along with Postma's 3 individual blocks, and Ellanor Dawson's 2 blocks. 

Although the Archers of Moody stormed back to take set 3, Grace remained composed and rallied to take set 4 to move onto the championship match on Saturday at noon vs Emmaus. 

Championship Match 

Grace had only played Emmaus once before this season, losing 1-3 on the road back in October. The Tigers would look for redemption here, hoping for a chance to win the region for the second straight year and advance to Nationals. A year ago, Grace took down the Eagles for the Regional title, so the rematch was highly anticipated. 

The match started out in Emmaus' favor, with the Eagles coming out swinging and taking the first two sets. Emmaus flashed an impressive .343 attack percentage in the first set. The Tigers would respond however, taking set 3 in convincing fashion, 25-19. Delaney Sommers set up the offense by providing 35 assists in the match, her highest total since early September. Although the Tigers had built some momentum, it would not be enough, and the Eagles of Emmaus took set 4 to become the regional champions.

Season Recap

Grace capped off their season with a 12-13 overall record, going 8-7 against NCCAA opponents, (8-3 against teams in their region). The Tigers took home several postseason awards including two 1st Team All-Region players (Alexa Borgman and Kyrsten Nolen), one 2nd Team All-Region Players (Delaney Sommers), and one on the Honorable Mention All-Region Team (Kiana Nickerson). Kyrsten Nolen won the Libero of The Year award for the region, and Alexa Borgman took home Player of the Year for the region. 

The Tigers will graduate just two seniors this year in Kyrsten Nolen and Jasmine Branch, which sets them up for a strong returning group for next year.