Lander ends the dream, eliminating Augusta from the PBC Tournament
By Rodrigo Burgos Avila | Editor in Chief
Augusta’s postseason came to an end Friday afternoon at Horne Arena, as the Jaguars fell 3–1 (25–17, 25–23, 23–25, 25–21) to Lander in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals. The loss eliminates Augusta (25–8, 12–3 PBC) from the tournament, while Lander advances to the championship match to face the winner of Flagler and Georgia College.
Lander finished with 55 kills on .132 hitting, led by Katie Miller’s 24 and Karson Browning’s 16. Augusta countered with 50 kills on .126 hitting and rallied to extend the match by taking the third set, but the Bearcats maintained control in the key late stretches of Sets 1, 2, and 4.
Sofiia Snitsarevych led Augusta with 12 kills on .265 hitting, while Layne Witherspoon added 12 kills of her own. Patrycja Kabala and Angela Mateos followed with six, and Mia Saavedra and Lauren Nelson added four each.
Behind the service line, Snitsarevych and Sydney Harrington each recorded three aces, giving Augusta needed momentum swings throughout the match.
Defensively, Giulia Rodrigues anchored the back row with 25 digs, and Harrington added 14. At the net, Snitsarevych and Mateos each finished with two blocks, while Witherspoon added another.
Saavedra finished with 27 assists, while Harrington supplemented the offense with 13 assists in Augusta’s 6–2 system.
The Jaguars conclude their first part of the postseason with 25 wins and a 12–3 conference record, marking one of the program’s most successful regular-season campaigns in recent years. They will now move onto the NCAA Regional tournament, and while the seeds are not set in stone just yet, the projection is that the will be the seventh seed in the Southeast Region. They were ranked sixth in the most recent NCAA Division II Southeast Region poll.
Contact Rodrigo Burgos Avila at rburgosavila@augusta.edu.
Note: At the top of the page, Layne Witherspoon (20) attacks against the Bearcat block during a match earlier in the the season. (photo by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer)
