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The fourth time turned out to the be the charm Alderson Broaddus needed to pull off one of the biggest wins in its program history.
Alderson Broaddus, despite three previous losses to Coker earlier this season, rallied from a one-game deficit to beat the Cobras 18-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23 in the IVA Championship Tournament finals on Saturday in Hartsville, South Carolina.
The Battlers out-blocked the Cobras 14-7 in the championship match of the inaugural end-of-season tournament for NCAA Division I-II independent teams. In addition, Coker was held to a zero or negative attack percentage in two of the four games.
Middle attacker Myles Miller, the 2017 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. IVA Player of the Year, and outside attacker Adam Glader each had a match-high six blocks. Miller and Glader were two of the five Battlers with at least three blocks in the victory.
Along with his defensive performance, Glader contributed 10 kills. All-IVA senior outside attacker Obenda Besongngem in his final college match led Alderson Broaddus with 12 kills.
The Battlers also had eight aces — six more than Coker — with five coming from setter Benjamin Bravo.
Outside attacker Artur Cabral in the loss finished with a match-high 18 kills and was the only Cobra to have double-digit kills.
Alderson Broaddus entered the IVA Tournament with the worst regular season record of the three participating schools. It also suffered a three-game loss to Coker in the pool-play round on Friday.
The championship victory was the Battlers’ second match of the day.
Alderson Broaddus beat Lincoln Memorial in a five games to advance out of pool-play and earn a berth in the finals. The Battlers then following almost a 30-minute break immediately had to play the Cobras in the finals.