After a historic season, Davidson volleyball has earned the second seed in the upcoming Atlantic 10 volleyball tournament. The Wildcats had a spectacular season, going 20-9 overall, including 14-4 in conference play, their best start since joining the A-10. The team won too many weekly awards to count and won a multitude of end-of-season awards. Bella Brady was named All-Conference First Team and won Libero of the Year. She led the conference with 5.24 digs/set, for a total of 534 digs. Emma Slusser was awarded A-10 Rookie of the Year and was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team. The freshman averaged 2.48 kills/set and hit a solid 0.275 this season. In his 11th year leading the Wildcats, coach Chris Willis was named A-10 Co-Coach of the Year along with Loyola Chicago’s coach Amanda Berkley. Anela Davis won All-Conference First Team honors, as she was second in the NATION in blocks/set, with an other-worldly 1.59. She was also named to the A-10 All-Academic Team. Jackie Bardin and Kayla Davis were also named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team.
Davidson started the season strong, going 2-1 in the UNC Wilmington Invitational, including a signature win over Virginia Tech, followed by going 2-1 in the Wildcat Classic. Shortly after, the Wildcats had their longest winning streak since 2002, winning their first seven conference games. Unfortunately, the winning streak would be snapped with a loss at Saint Louis, but Davidson would find their groove again and rattle off another 5 straight conference wins. The Wildcats were inches away from being the A-10 regular season champions, as they needed to sweep Loyola Chicago in their last series of the season but were ultimately unable to pull out a win against the Ramblers.
Looking back, this has been a historic season for Davidson, but they’re not done yet. Davidson will face the winner of Dayton/VCU on Saturday, November 19, at 4:30 PM EST. Davidson swept both these teams this season and will look to continue that streak if they want to clinch an automatic bid for the NCAA volleyball tournament. If they are able to win their semifinals matchup, the Wildcats will play in the championship at 1:00 PM EST on Sunday, November 20, likely against the first-seeded Loyola Chicago. The ‘Cats have worked hard to get to this position, and they will look to win the tournament and punch their ticket to the big dance. Go ‘Cats!
