November 30, 2018 | Blake Cochran
The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) volleyball team made it to the Final Four of the NCCAA National Volleyball tournament before losing in the semi-finals to Division-2 opponent Biola University. Leading up to the Final Four, the Lady Lions were set in a pool with College of the Ozarks, Grace College, and Trinity International University were these teams played each other once trying to finish 1st or 2nd to advance to the semi-final match. SAGU played Thursday against Trinity International and Grace College; they won game one against TIU three sets to one before dropping the night game against Grace 1-3. In a must-win game on Friday against College of the Ozarks, the Lady Lions handled business winning three sets in a row (25-27, 25-23, 25-26, 25-21).
SAGU, College of the Ozarks and Grace College all finished 2-1 in pool play; College of the Ozarks took the 1st seed due to points which led to SAGU and Grace playing a one set game to see advances to the Final Four. Kali Shaw and Suzanny Figueiredo came up big in this one set playoff with them having 11 kills combined to advance them past the Lancers. Sophia Ivy had 16 assists in the 25 points and Celi Bruce had six digs.
With little time after the playoff game, the Lady Lions were thrown on the court against Biola University (29-6) who hasn’t lost a game since October 23rd. The Eagles swept SAGU in three sets (15-25, 18-25, and 20-25). Figueiredo had nine kills and 11 digs for a near double-double, Bruce led the Lions with 17 kills. Alexis Mealer finished 10 kills on 17 attempts for a .353 hitting percentage. Ivy filled the stat sheet with 26 assists, four digs, and one kill in their final game of the season.