Sweep of Lions Completes All-GSAC Final Four

Box Score 

(11/30/07 - Women's Volleyball) COLUMBIA, Mo. - A strong service game and stifling blocking provided more than enough firepower to vault #3-seeded Concordia to a 30-17, 30-17, 30-18 win over sixth-seeded Lindenwood (Mo.), Friday evening in the quarterfinal round of the 28th Annual NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championships.

The victory by the Eagles made sure that all four of the semifinal teams would call the Golden State Athletic Conference home. Top-seeded Fresno Pacific and #2-seeded California Baptist swept through their quarterfinal encounters while fourth-seeded Biola needed four games to dispose of #5-seeded and defending national champion National American (S.D.).

With the Eagles just three games away from elimination the rest of the way, they picked a fine time to turn in one of their most dominating performances of the season. Not since the Eagles swept through Biola on September 22 had the team faced such stiff competition and came out firing on all cylinders.

However, that proved to be the case on Friday evening despite having to wait until nearly 9:00 p.m. local time to take the court. The Eagles turned in their fifth-best hitting percentage of the season, collecting 47 kills against just 12 errors on 97 attempts for a .361 mark. They were also matched their season-high with 12 blocks and their 10 aces were just two off the best mark of the campaign.

The two teams went through a brief feeling-out process that lasted the first 18 points before the Eagles took charge and never looked back. Following an error by Jamie Meurer, Traci Weamer fired her second kill of the match, then combined with Lindsey Campbell on a block. Campbell went back to the service line three points later and kept the pressure on the Lions as the lead stretched to 16-10.

Following another Lindenwood error, it was Weamer who took her turn at the service line and helped the Eagles pull away. An ace midway through a 7-0 run set the tone while Amber Ridens provided an exclamation point with a thunderous kill down the line.

The Lions were slow to recover from the onslaught of game one and quickly fell behind 10-2. Jenna Friedrich had a pair of aces in the first three points of the game, then Ashley Robbins followed up with an ace of her own after a service error by the Lions.

A quick timeout proved only to slow the bleeding as the Eagles continued to press for a more comfortable cushion. Friedrich again terrorized the Lindenwood backline as she recorded two more aces during another 7-0 stretch while Robbins and Stephanie Scheele also added kills. The Eagles also tallied half of their 12 blocks in game two, holding the Lions to a .033 hitting percentage.

The Lions came out with a renewed sense of urgency early on in game three, but in similar fashion to the opening frame, the Eagles had too much firepower. Concordia had 18 kills in the game and hit .382 in the final stanza, led by Weamer with 8 kills and Campbell with six. Robbins finished off the match in style, serving out the final four points that included an ace on match point.

Campbell was nearly flawless in the middle, firing a match-best 12 kills on just 17 attempts for a blazing .647 hitting percentage while also adding six blocks. Robbins had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs while Weamer chipped in with 11 kills, nine digs and five blocks.

Krista Yoder had 8 kills to lead Lindenwood (41-8) while Meurer had 7 kills and Alyssa Showers had a match-high 13 digs.

Concordia (30-5) faces #2-seeded California Baptist in the second semifinal with match-time set for 12:00 p.m. (CST) The teams have already met three times this season with the Lancers coming out on top in each match. Most recently, they met in the NAIA Region II semifinals at Fresno Pacific with CBU posting a 30-23, 30-20, 30-21 win. The match can be viewed on a pay-per-view basis for just $6.95. Click here to order the video webcast from The Arena at Southwell Complex.