This past Sunday was a great day to be a CMCC Volleyball fan. Before the Yankee Conference Tournament started, the President of the Yankee Conference, Matt Richards, gave out awards to recognize the best players in the conference. Two Mustangs were recognized for their excellence on the court, Aaliyah Smith and Tiara Begishe. Tiara walked away with an All-Conference award and Aaliyah won the highest award, Conference Player of the Year. This is the second year in a row that an athlete from CM has been awarded the Conference Player of the Year, a first for the volleyball program at CM. Head Coach Kyle Chapman also received recognition and was awarded the Coach of the Year for the Yankee Conference.
Semi Final vs SMCC
(25-21, 25-11, 25-10)
The Mustang's first game of the tournament was against SMCC, a team that they had met up with 4 times already over the course of the season. Each time they had played previously was competitive, but the Mustangs had ended up on top each time. The match started tight with the Seawolves showing a lot of energy and fight. The Mustangs were able to weather the storm and pull away at the end to win the first set by 4 points. After that, CM elevated their game to a whole new level and beat SMCC handily in sets 2 and 3 to get a sweep for the first time all season against SMCC. It was a great team effort with everyone positively contributing. Aaliyah Smith, Gia Cooper, and Morgan Stevens each contributed to the offense with 7, 5, and 4 kills respectively.
Finals vs Paul Smith's College
(19-25, 25-12, 25-21, 11-25, 15-4)
The win against SMCC matched the Mustangs against the Bobcats of Paul Smith's College. CM had met up with Paul Smith's twice already earlier in the season. Although both previous matches were very tight matches, Paul Smith's had walked away with the win on each occasion. The first set seemed to be more of the same, with Paul Smith's putting together a run at 19-19 to take the first set. The Mustangs regrouped between sets and bounced back to take set two by thirteen points. The third set was tighter the whole way through, but CM was able to hold on and take a 2-1 lead at the end of set 3. In the fourth set, a must win for Paul Smith's, nothing went right for the Mustangs. They gave away point after point because of hitting, serving, and passing errors. Paul Smith's ran away with the set and beat the Mustangs by 14 points, tying up the match at 2 set apiece. Facing a fifth set, and potentially the end of their season, Mustangs dug deep and were able to rally together for the deciding fifth set. Excellent serving and defensive scrappiness gave the Mustangs the spark to play the best volleyball of their season. They were able to slam the door on Paul Smith's comeback, winning 15-4. The Mustangs were lead Aaliyah Smith and Morgan Stevens who each had a stellar match offensively, both hitting .250 with 21 and 6 kills respectively.
After the match, Coach Chapman said, "I am so proud of these girls and what they have accomplished this season. We have faced a lot of adversity over the course of the season and they were able to keep fighting through it. Those tough patches make this victory even better."
After the match, Aaliyah Smith and Morgan Stevens both received recognition for their stellar performances. Aaliyah was named Tournament MVP and Morgan was named the Offensive Player of the Tournament.
Original source can be found here
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