AU wins third straight PBC Tournament Championship

By Carlos Rodriguez | Sports Editor

After being down two sets to one, the No. 2 seeded Augusta University volleyball team rallied to defeat the No. 1 seeded Flagler, 3-2 in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday, April 24.

The championship took place in Saint Augustine, Fla., since this year with the new COVID-19 rules, the PBC chose to have the higher seed host the title match.

The win marks the Jaguars 13th straight victory and third consecutive Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship.

Augusta defeated Flagler in the championship for the second consecutive season. Both years the Saints came into the PBC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. 

Flagler won the first and third sets with a score of 25-18 and 25-23. AU won the second, fourth and fifth sets with scores of 25-20, 27-25 and 15-12, respectively.

AU was down 2-1 heading into the fourth set. During the set, the Saints went up 24-23, only one-point away from capturing the championship as the Jaguars needed a spark.

Senior Kylie Martin became Augusta’s spark and kept their championship hopes alive with four straight kills, giving the Jags a 27-25 win to send the match into a championship deciding fifth set.

Unlike the other four sets, the fifth set is played to 15. The Jags were down early in the set 5-2 but were able to pull away as Martin scored the final kill of the set to give AU the 15-12 victory and win the championship.

Along with Martin, senior Holland Martin and sophomore Samantha Zittrauer were named to the All-Tournament team. 

Martin was named the MVP of the tournament after finishing the championship with 27 kills and 18 digs. 

Prior to the championship, Augusta previously defeated the No. 3 seed USC-Aiken 3-1 on Wednesday, April 21, at Chrstineberry Fieldhouse to advance to the final.

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.

Kylie Martin shows her attack form that led to her winning MVP honors in the Peach Belt Tournament. (Staff photo)