No doubt: Jimmies sweep Spires in NAIA opener

Taylor Sabinash certainly lived up to her nickname on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena.

Sabinash -- or, as her teammates call her, 'Sabismash' -- helped No. 1-ranked University of Jamestown women's volleyball to a three-set sweep of the University of Saint Mary, Kansas, in the opening round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national volleyball tournament.

"I think (Saint Mary) was a little bit scared of her," UJ head coach Jon Hegerle said. "She was hitting the ball so hard -- that was fun to see."

The Jimmies have advanced to the final site stage of the NAIA tournament April 27-May 1 in Sioux City, Iowa. The Jimmies are entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The Jimmies' pool play assignment is still to be decided.

Sabinash's kill to center court in the first set kicked off a 6-2 run that put the Jimmies out front 19-13. Saint Mary stuck with UJ early as the Jimmies missed covering some gaps that allowed the Spires to go on a 4-0 run. Missed serves and some touches at the net also helped keep the Spires in the game.

The Spires honed in on the block -- either clearing the Jimmies' hops or deflecting the ball out of bounds. Saint Mary held the Jimmies on game point but Sabinash and Jayla Ritter ended the first with a big block out on the right side.

"The first set wasn't what we were expecting from us," Hegerle said. "There were too many errors. This week was mentally trying just because of all the COVID protocols and testing. I think that just kind of wears on a team a little bit."

Saint Mary was certainly worn down from all the pandemic play.

"We have been hit extremely, extremely hard by Covid," Saint Mary head coach Amy Beall said. "We went without hardly any practices this entire year.

"We only played six games in the fall, we had half of our team opt-out so we never competed with our full team. It was nice to see our team fight to even get to this point."

The Spires were outmatched in the height department but the visitors got creative spinning the ball off the tape and shooting the ball deep. Saint Mary claimed an early 3-1 lead to start off the second. Unfortunately for the Spires, but the Jimmies' rock-solid defense and dynamic offense soon put the Jimmies up 9-4. The Jimmies made 71 digs compared to Saint Mary's 49.

Another 3-1 run by the Spires didn't do much to slow the Jimmies down. The Jimmies were hitting above .400 compared to the Spires' .103 at the net. UJ used tips to their advantage throughout the match, killing the Spires right behind the block. The No. 1 seed tallied 19 kills and only three errors off of 40 total attacks in the second.

Saint Mary overcame a slow start to set No. 3 to come within two points of the game leaders. Attacks from Rylee Kenitzer anchored a strong showing from the Spires' front three. Kenitzer, a sophomore outside, nailed down eight against Sabinash and starting right-side Kalli Hegerle.

Those eight kills, a team-high for the Spires, couldn't counter Sabinash's 10 bullets put down within, or inches beyond, the 10-foot-line. Sabinash only tallied one error in her 15 total attack attempts. Sabinash was hitting at .600.

Anna Holen led the Jimmies in total kills with 13.

"She's felt lately like her timing has been off," Hegerle said of Sabinash. "Before the game she (asked) me for any words of wisdom and I said just don't worry about it. Just play hard and play with a lot of energy and good things will happen."

Sabinash also used her hops up front, making a handful of stops to keep the momentum on the Jimmies' side. The Jimmies tallied five team blocks while the Spires made one.

"I've been having a lot of shoulder issues and just put that aside today," Sabinash said. "I just wanted to play free and give it all I got. It's tournament time you've got to give it all."

University of Jamestown 3, University of Saint Mary 0

SM 18 10 14

UJ 25 25 25

SM -- Kills: Kenitzer 8, Hana Ronnebaum 4, Jessica Malizzi 3, Kelsey Huggans 3, Hannah Vanriette 2, Kiara Pena 1. Assists: Haydan Heuermann 14. Digs: Keishia Reyes 11, Heuermann 10, Emma Prothe 8, Camryn Hoover 6, Laney Ward 5, Malizzi 4, Kenitzer 3, Kelsey Huggans 2. Aces: 0. Blocks: 1.

UJ -- SM -- Kills: Holen 13, Sabinash 10, Kalli Hegerle 8, Jayla Ritter 7, Corina Huff 6, Nicole Schmitz 5, Megan Gaffaney 1, Jackie Meiklejohn 1. Assists: Meiklejohn 24, Gaffaney 18. Digs: Sydney Ellingson 26, Anna Holen 21, Meiklejohn 10, Hannah Schiele 8, Gaffaney 4, Ritter 1, Hegerle 1. Aces: Ellingson 3, Ellie Holen 2, Meiklejohn 1. Blocks: 5.