Reinhardt Scores Win at NAIA National Tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Reinhardt made history as it recorded a victory at the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship, a first for any Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) team.

The Eagles went 1-1 in pool play and nearly qualified for the semifinal round, but William Penn (Iowa) won the pool with a 2-0 record.

Reinhardt finished the season with a 29-2 overall record.

Here is how the Eagles did in their matches:

No. 12 Reinhardt (Ga.) (29-1) def. No. 4 OUAZ (Ariz.) (19-7), 3-1 (33-31, 21-25, 26-24, 27-25) | Box Score

• Through 14 scoring ties the teams battled for the opening set. Tied at 31 all, Reinhardt capitalized on two OUAZ errors that closed the set 33-31.
• The teams battled back and forth until OUAZ pulled away with a 10-6 scoring run to win the second set and tie the match at one set apiece.
• Another highly contested set followed with 15 scoring ties where the teams pushed past the regulation 25 points. The final scoring tie came at 24 apiece, where Reinhardt would take a kill off the hand of Victor Pacheco and seal its win in the third set on an error by OUAZ.
• The teams remained close through the start of the fourth set until OUAZ pulled away with a 9-4 scoring run that put the Spirit at set point. The Eagles scored five straight points to tie the score at 24 all. A kill from Emery Outin put OUAZ back at set point but Reinhardt scored three points on two OUAZ attack errors and an ace off the hand of Addah Nestor.
• Addah Nestor of OUAZ led all scorers with 21 kills and was followed by teammate Emery Outin with 19 kills.
• Zeo Meyer recorded an impressive 0.727 attack percentage off of nine kills, one error, and 11 total attempts.

No. 5 William Penn (Iowa) (22-6) def. No. 12 Reinhardt (Ga.) (29-1), 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-11, 25-15) | Box Score

• William Penn established its lead with a 5-1 scoring run after a tie score of eight. The Statesmen maintained that lead to win the first set 25-16.
• WPU opened the second set on a 4-1 run. RU chipped away at the Statesmen's lead and tied the score at 10. William Penn took the lead while Reinhardt remained within four points. Reinhardt closed the gap once again at 23. It was two WPU errors that closed out the set for Reinhardt who claimed its first set win 25-23 to tie the match at one set apiece.
• The Statesmen opened the third set with a 7-1 run for a lead that they would not forfeit to regain the lead in the match with two sets to one.
• After a tie score of four all, William Penn captured the lead on a 4-1 scoring run. The Statesmen kept the Eagles at arm's length with a scoring gap of as many as five points before WPU closed out the match with a set three score of 25-15.
• Landon Krause of WPU led all scorers with 16 kills in the match. His teammate Britten Beallis followed with 13 kills. Beallis also posted a 0.632 attack percentage with 13 kills on 19 attempts and only one error.