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The Pitt State volleyball team officially ended the 2020 to 2021 season last weekend.
The Gorillas headed into the first round of the MIAA Spring Volleyball Championship and faced the Newman Jets. The Gorillas lost the game 2-3 (25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 13-15).
“Well, we lost in five and our season has come to a close,” said Head Coach Jen Gomez. “Now, we’re thinking about next year.”
Earlier this month, the Gorillas faced Newman and won (3-2). The Gorillas took set one (25-16) and dropped set two (18-25), allowing the Newman Jets to tie the game 1-1. The Gorillas weren’t able to pick up the third set and lost again (16-25), putting them behind. The volleyball team came back to take sets four (25-10) and five (15-13) to win the game.
Prior to that, the Gorillas played the Newman Jets earlier this season in March at their home court in Wichita. The Gorillas held the Jets off and won that match (3-0) in three straights sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-19).
“I thought Hope White played hard and Claire Sandvig came in and did some nice things for us. It’s hard to beat a team three times… It just was a hard-fought deal and we just came up on the short end but it’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna take a break and move on.”
The Gorillas ended the season with a 5-10 overall record and 3-5 in MIAA play.
“I think we’re all just glad for the fact that we got to play because we weren’t sure with the year like what it was, and I think that the focus should be on the fact that we got to play. Our kids got to have some sort of a season and we competed. It didn’t really count but we got to play a lot of the kids and they got to still go out and have some sort of normalcy in a crazy year and that’s what I think we’re gonna remember from it and hopefully learn a few things and get ready for next year.”
The 2021 MIAA Spring Volleyball Championship was hosted on the Washburn University campus this year at Lee Arena in Topeka.
In the opening day of the championship, Central Oklahoma defeated Fort Hays State 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 27-29, 25-19). Northwest Missouri State defeated Washburn 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 26-28, 25-22, 15-12), Missouri Western defeated Emporia State 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21), Nebraska Kearney defeated Newman 3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-22), Central Oklahoma defeated Missouri Southern 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 24-22), and Central Missouri defeated Missouri Western 3-2 (17-25, 25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 15-8).
In day two, Northwest Missouri defeated Central Missouri 3-0 (25-15, 26-24, 25-18) to advance to the Championship game. Nebraska Kearney defeated Central Oklahoma 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-16) and won their spot in the championship game.
Nebraska Kearney defeated Northwest Missouri State 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13) and were crowned the 2021 MIAA Champions.