MATCH STATS
- #1 Grand View 3, #4 Warner 1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-21)
- Grand View improves to 25-3; Warner finishes the season at 23-6
- Grand View advances to play Park in NAIA national championship
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Box Score
The Vikings of Grand View advanced to the NAIA national championship with a 3-1 over the Warner University Royals. After dropping the first set 22-25, Grand View stormed back to take the next three in a row by scores of 25-12, 25-23, and 25-21.
Senior outside hitter Pedro Cardoso led the Vikings with 19 kills and eight digs, on a .469 hitting percentage. Junior opposite Tim Johnson followed with 14 kills and three blocks. Senior outside hitter Felipe Nogueira had 13 kills and eight digs, hitting at .417%. Junior setter Felipe Rosa led the offense with 46 assists while senior libero Steve Harvey led the defensive effort with nine digs.
The Royals were led by sophomore opposite Jahn Lazada with 16 kills while senior outside hitter Gillan Octave followed with 13 kills and seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Henrik Falck Lauten had 10 kills to go along with five digs. Senior setter Martin Krueger controlled the offense with 40 assists and five digs, and senior libero Hui Ding led the team with eight digs.
The first set featured 16 ties with only two different lead changes. The Royals took a 7-5 lead due to errors from the Vikings. Nogueira pushed the Vikings to come back and tied it at 13-13. Two more errors from the Vikings and a kill by Krueger gave Warner a 16-13 lead. Grand View used a 5-2 run led by Cardoso to bring the score even at 18-18 before a kill from Lazada ended the scoring run. The Royals scored seven of the final ten points to take the first set 25-22.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead that was led by tough serving from Cardoso. Lazada’s tough serving combined with Octave’s offensive efforts brought the Royals to within four, 6-10. This would be the closest Warner would come as the Vikings pushed their lead to 17-8, forcing a timeout from Warner. Out of the timeout, Octave assisted Krueger on a kill to make the score 9-17. Errors plagued the Royals as they would commit five in the closing moments of the set, giving the second set to Grand View 25-12.
In the third set, Grand View took another early lead at 10-5 before a service error from Nogueira cut the lead to four points. Down 10-15, John Montalvo-Camacho led a five point service run to tie the score at 15-15. Both teams exchanged points until Grand View took a 23-21 lead. A Royals service errors and a kill by Cardoso would give the Vikings the third set 25-23.
Tied at 6-6 in the fourth set, Adrian Faitalia served four points in a row for the Vikings to take a 10-6 lead before a kill from Lazada ended the scoring run. Grand View would push its lead to 16-12, forcing a Royals timeout. Out of the timeout, Warner would use a 7-4 run to close the gap to 19-20. A kill from Johnson and an errors from the Royals pushed Grand Views lead to 22-19. Warner attempted to make a comeback after a kill from Octave brought them to within two, 20-22. It would not be enough as Grand View scored three of the final four points to take the fourth and final set 25-21.
Grand View advances to the NAIA national championship match where they will face the Pirates of Park University. In pool play, Grand View beat the Pirates 3-2.
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