CINCINNATI, Ohio. - Transylvania Volleyball punched their ticket to the NCAA DIII volleyball tournament with their thrilling four set victory over No. 14 Mount St. Joseph to win their fifth straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship. After dropping the first set, Transy won the next three sets to avenge a loss just two weeks ago to the Lions.

The win was Transy's 10th all time versus MSJ and gives the Pioneers a win versus every Heartland Collegiate Athletics Conference team this season.

Transy has reached the HCAC tournament championship in every season under head coach Amy Barmore. With the win, it's the fifth straight tournament title for Barmore who has put together one of the most impressive runs in HCAC history, having won the tournament five years in a row and reaching the NCAA postseason tournament in four of the last five years (no NCAA tournament in 2020-21 due to COVID).

"Today wasn't easy but it was fun." Barmore said after the win. "We finished the way we wanted to, with confidence and playing together. It feels great to be heading back to the NCAA tournament for the fifth time. I love that the girls get to experience this again this year."

After dropping the first set, Transy used a 5-0 run to take a 6-3 lead and didn't trail the rest of the set. MSJ tied the set at 22-22 but a ball handling error and back to back attack errors tied the match at one set each.

History would not repeat itself from November 1st this match. Instead, Transy won the next set 25-21 to put themselves in the drivers set to win their fifth straight crown. Freshman Megan Sweeney ended the set with a kill. She finished the match with six.

The fourth set was the Pioneers' best. Transy led the entire set and distanced themselves from MSJ with a quick 9-2 lead. Up 14-4, the Lions cut the deficit in half off back to back kills and three straight attack errors by Transy. It wouldn't be enough as the Pioneers went on a 6-2 to go up by nine points. Cate Scheper sent the Pioneers into the NCAA tournament with her eleventh kill of the match.

"This match wasn't a pretty one, the stat sheet shows that," Barmore said. "But I think we had more fun this game. After the nerves settled in from set one, we got off of our own islands and jumped onto the same one. This allowed us to have that fun finally." Transy was all smiles after the win, having overcame a 17-25 first set loss.

After the match, Grace Ward and Kayden Holcomb were named to the HCAC All-Tournament Team. Ava Beltsos was named HCAC tournament MVP. Beltsos finished with a season high 33 digs in yesterday's win over Rose Hulman and had 28 in the championship win over Mount St. Joseph.

"Ava had an outstanding weekend. She finished with 33 digs last night and 28 today. That's 7.62 digs a set." Barmore said. "She has really stepped up nice for us these past few weeks and she definitely deserves this award. I am so proud of her."

Transy will know their NCAA postseason opponent and location during the NCAA DIII selection show tomorrow at 1 PM. The opening rounds are scheduled for November 18th-19th.