Red River Athletic Conference – Top seeds to meet in RRAC volleyball tournament championship match

Semira Blair had 23 assists in Xavier’s first RRAC tournament match.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Regular season co-champions Xavier and Our Lady of the Lake were on a collision course to the 2021 RRAC Volleyball Championship final, and they completed that journey with semifinal victories on Friday. The teams will meet at Mabee Gymnasium on the OLLU campus on Saturday at 1 p.m. Xavier won the only meeting between the teams in four sets in October. An automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship will be on the line this time around. 

2021 RRAC Volleyball Championship Schedule/Results

Our Lady of the Lake 3, Huston-Tillotson 1
Second-seeded OLLU shook off a slow start to oust Huston-Tillotson in four sets. The Rams started strong with a 25-23 first set edge, and the Saints bounced back to win the second set by the same score. OLLU pulled away from there at 25-17 and 25-14. Three Saints finished with double-digit kill totals including Camila Ramirez (11), Daisy Cantwell (11), and Cassidy Haller. Madelynn Strzelczyk was instrumental in many of those spikes with 42 assists. OLLU’s Tina Trevino finished with 21 digs. HT’s Kasani Horace led all hitters with 12 kills, while setter Mya Aguirre racked up 30 assists. 

Xavier 3, Wiley 0
In the first semifinal, top-seeded Xavier cruised through the first two sets against Wiley then survived a tight third set to win 27-25. The Gold Nuggets hit .352 as a team and were led by Kennedy Wade with 16 kills and a .389 hiting percentage. Xavier’s Emi Riglioni and Semira Blair had 24 and 23 assists, while Linda Mungai collected 24 digs. Wiley’s LeAndria Jackson was credited with 24 assists, and the Wildcats had three players in double-digits in digs. 

Huston-Tillotson 3, Jarvis Christian 1
Pushed to four sets, third-seeded HT held on to close out a first round victory, 26-24, in the fourth set over No. 6 Jarvis Christian. RRAC Newcomer of the Year Mckenzie Dimery produced a double-double effort for the Rams with 14 kills and 16 digs. Mya Aguirre contributed 35 assists, and Kiaya Jordan had a team-high 19 digs in the win. JCC’s Kaia Brooks led all players with 25 digs, while Jade Green led the Bulldogs with 11 kills. JCC outhit the Rams, .140-.114 but came up five games short. 

Wiley 3, Southwest 0
Hailie Williams powered the fifth-seeded Wildcats to a sweep of No. 4 Southwest to open the tournament. Williams compiled 13 kills and four service aces as Wiley won three hard-fought sets at 25-20, 25-22,…