Balance Buoys Eagles Past Crusaders, 3-0
Box Score
(11/28/07 - Women's Volleyball) COLUMBIA, Mo. - Five Concordia players tallied at least 9 kills as a balanced attack allowed the #3-seeded Eagles to carve out a 33-31, 30-19, 30-26 win over Madonna (Mich.), Wednesday afternoon at the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championships.
All-American Lindsey Campbell capped off an outstanding day on the offensive end, tallying 12 kills while hitting a sizzling .550 as she made just one error in 20 attempts. Freshman Amber Ridens also connected at a high percentage, hitting .353 as she recorded 9 kills.
The Eagles faced a myriad of emotions in the opening game, building what looked like a comfortable lead before finding themselves battling through a game point. Though the Eagles led by as much as eight midway through the game, a 27-24 lead after a kill by Traci Weamer looked like enough to help the team push through to 30.
That script never made its way to the Madonna bench. The Crusaders scored the next five points after three-straight Eagle hitting errors, a kill by Mary McGinnis and service ace by Whitney Fuelling. Bailey Schade ended the run with a kill before the Crusaders called timeout to get set for their second game point.
Instead of icing Chelsea Scott at the service line, Scott came out and drilled a bullet that Jacqui Gatt could not handle to tie the match. The Eagles grabbed their first game point after a block by Campbell and Ridens, but Stephanie Parslow was able to squeeze through a kill to knot the teams at 30-30.
After trading the next two points, Madonna standout Lubovj Tihomirova hit the ball out before Stephanie Scheele put the game away with a bomb down the line.
The Eagles kept the momentum going as they cruised to a comfortable win in game two. They raised their hitting percentage from .235 in the opener to .357 while the Crusaders could muster just nine kills and a .057 hitting clip.
Even through the first 44 points of game three, the Eagles used a quick three-point spurt that proved to be the difference to close out the match. Campbell blasted her final kill of the contest before combining with Scheele to block Tihomirova. Weamer followed up with a kill and the Eagles were able to sideout all the way to 29-26 before Ashley Robbins put away the final point.
Weamer led the Eagles with 13 kills and 13 digs while Scheele had 10 kills. Robbins added 9 kills and a match-best 15 digs to go along with 14 digs from Chelsea Scott. The setting duo of Jenna Friedrich and Vanessa Perry combined for 41 assists and 10 digs.
Tihomirova led all players with 20 kills, but the Eagles kept her hitting percentage at a manageable .239. She also added five blocks while McGinnis tallied 10 kills. Gatt led the defensive effort for Madonna (34-11) with 11 digs.
Concordia (28-5) wraps up pool play on Thursday, November 29 with its featured match against #8-seeded Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) with the match set to start at 6:00 p.m. (CST)