Semifinal Setback Signals End of Season

Box Score 

(12/1/07 - Women's Volleyball) COLUMBIA, Mo. - For the second-straight season, the Concordia women's volleyball team advanced to the NAIA Tournament semifinals, only to have their dreams of a national championship dashed two wins away from their ultimate goal.

This time around, #2-seeded California Baptist proved too tough for the third-seeded Eagles (30-6), posting a 30-23, 30-21, 30-18 win at the 28th Annual NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championships in The Arena at the Southwell Complex.

Despite dropping a pair of regular season contests as well as a NAIA Region II semfiinal round match to the Lancers, the Eagles came out ready to put an end to that trend and upset their conference rivals. The two teams both came at each other with high energy over the opening moments, but it was the Eagles who gained the early upper hand.

Even at 15-15, the Eagles took their first lead after an error by Yudelka Bonilla. An ace by Traci Weamer forced a Lancer timeout, but the momentum carried through the break after another error, this time by Fei Shi, and a blocking error gave the Eagles a 19-15 advantage.

As well as things were going for the Eagles at that point, their momentum quickly was snatched away. Shi ended the stretch with a kill and started a Lancer run that included five-straight points for a 20-19 lead.

Bailey Schade got the Eagles back to level terms at 20-20, but they would not see the lead again for the rest of the frame. A kill by Lindsey Campbell brought the Eagles to within a 24-23 scoreline, but the Lancers ran off the next six points to take the opener.

The Eagles brought plenty of belief to the early stages of game two and once again looked capable of bringing the match even once again. Concordia once again took advantage of a number of early errors by the Lancers and held a 11-9 lead after Vera Willis misfired on an attack.

Unlike game one, the Eagles would not be able to sustain the advantage into the latter stages of the stanza. Willis came back with two kills around an error by Traci Weamer and was followed up by a kill by Bonilla for 13-11 lead.

Stephanie Scheele gave the Eagles some life with a kill and saw the teams level after Rachel Gowen was blocked by Schade and Amber Ridens. However, the offense dried up for the Eagles as they managed just five more kills the rest of the game and none during a 7-2 stretch that decided the game.

Game three went the way of the Lancers early on and the Eagles never fully recovered. Four errors in the first five points gave the Lancers a quick 5-0 advantage that was more than enough to set the tone for the last frame. Back-to-back kills by Campbell and Weamer gave the Eagles their last glimmer of hope at 18-14, but Shi answered with a kill before consecutive aces by Brittney Barton put the game and match on ice.

While the Concordia defense deserved high praise for its early efforts, the offense was never able to find the execution it has used to sweep through its previous four opponents. The Eagles managed just 26 kills and hit a season-low .031. Willis led all players with 22 kills to go along with 9 digs and 2 blocks for California Baptist (32-4) while Shi added 15 kills and 3 blocks.

Weamer led the way for the Eagles with 8 kills, 15 digs and 3 blocks while Campbell added 7 kills while hitting .375 and had 3 blocks. The duo were named to the all-tournament team for their efforts while the team received the National Tournament Champions of Character Award for its sportsmanship.