Lee wins pool, advances to quarterfinals

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1 1 of 6 12/15/ :00 AM HOT TOPICS Photos: East tops Heelan Christmas Special section Latest: Kingsley shooting Athlete of week: Gesell Debate countdown Home / Local Sports / Volleyball / NAIA Volleyball Championships Story Discussion Image (2) By Jason Cowley jcowley@siouxcityjournal.com Sioux City Journal Posted: Thursday, December 1, :45 pm No Comments Posted Font Size: Default font size Larger font size 1 retweet Recommend Be the first of your friends to recommend this. Journal photo by Jim Lee Lee's Irene Ojukwu spikes the ball as Southern Oregon's Liz Madden defends during pool play at the NAIA Volleyball National

2 2 of 6 12/15/ :00 AM Championships Thursday at Tyson Events Center. Related Galleries Photos: NAIA Volleyball Day 3 (20) Photos NAIA National Volleyball Tournament Pool A First: #1 Concordia (Calif.) (35-1) Second: #12 College of Idaho (26-4) Pool B First: #2 Texas-Brownsville (29-2) Second: #11 Fresno Pacific (Calif.) (17-12) Pool C First: #3 Lee (Tenn.) (33-2) Second: #10 Southern Oregon (23-5) Pool D First: #9 Biola (Calif.) (26-12) Second: #4 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (29-5) Pool E First: #5 Columbia (Mo.) (38-3) Second: #8 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (23-5) Pool F First: #7 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (30-4)

3 3 of 6 12/15/ :00 AM Second: #6 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (29-7) SIOUX CITY -- Dropping the first set of all three pool play matches at the NAIA National Volleyball tournament was not what Lee University (Tenn.) head coach Andrea Hudson envisioned for her team. However, the third-ranked Lady Flames, semifinalists each of the last two years here, still rallied to go 3-0 and win its Pool, taking down 10th-ranked Southern Oregon Thursday night, 27-29, 25-16, 25-16, 17-25, By virtue of winning its pool, Lee advances directly to the quarterfinals tonight and will await the winner of a morning first-round match between ninth-ranked Biola and 11th-ranked Fresno Pacific, the four-time defending champs, in an 8 p.m. contest on Court 2. "The motivation going into that (fifth) game (was there)," said Hudson, in her 21st season. "Its' always great to know you made it out of your pool, but the motivation was to have that first-round bye. "Last year was the first time we had ever done that and we saw how nice it is to have fresh legs going into the end (of the tournament)." Having played two five-set matches and a four-set match in pool play, Lee University is comforted by the fact they it only has to play one match today. The Lady Flames have seven seniors on the roster and have been instrumental in leading the program to the consecutive semifinal appearances, where they have lost to the eventual national runner-up each time. Arlene Ferreira, a 5-8 senior transfer from Texas-Brownsville, led the way offensively with 22 kills while sophomore Marjia Zelenovic had 12 and senior Christa Hutchison 10 kills. Directing coach Hudson's offense from the floor were senior setters Kelsey Leffew (37 assists) and Gretchen Higdon (21 assists). "We have a lot of experienced players out there, but we also have two freshman who start on the court," said Hudson. "I have seven seniors who have been to the Final Four two years in a row, and to say they're not hungry would be an understatement. They'll at least want to get back to that point." Southern Oregon was led by senior Sarah Holgen with 17 kills while senior Megan Bartling added 14 and junior Liz Madden 10. Caryn Westrick (28 assists) and Angela Spieker (23 assists) directed the Raiders' 6-2 offense. Southern Oregon will face Embry-Riddle in the first-round at 12:30 this afternoon. NO. 13 INDIANA WESLEYAN 3, KANSAS WESLEYAN 1 Peyton Thompson hammered 19 kills, Lauryn Barfell added 16 to carry No. 13 Indiana Wesleyan past Kansas Wesleyan 25-12, 26-24, 23-25, in a matchup of two teams rounding out their NAIA tournament pool play debuts. Yui Iwase dished out 64 assists for the Wildcats (36-6), an opening-round victim three years ago in its only previous NAIA appearance. Kristine Egebrecht added 13 kills to the Wildcats' balanced attack, which finished at a clip of.369 despite KW's 11 blocks. Leah Keller (11 kills) took part in a half-dozen of those blocks for the Coyotes (27-11), who finished 0-3 in pool play during the program's first-ever trip to nationals. Neither team advanced to today's single-elimination round. NO. 18 POINT LOMA NAZARENE 3, NO. 17 INDIANA TECH 1 Tabitha Henken amassed 25 kills and 16 digs as No. 18 Point Loma Nazerene pulled off the first pool-play upset of the tournament, knocking off No. 17 Indiana Tech in four sets, 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, Neither team was eligible for advancement to bracket play. The Sea Lions (20-10) finished off head coach Sarah Gustin's first season on a high note, behind Aimee Bird's 54 assists -- a good portion of those going to Henken, Alyssa Dwyer (14 kills), Maddie Dahms (12) and Delaney McCraney (11).

4 4 of 6 12/15/ :00 AM McCraney also served up a tournament-high seven aces to help PLN, the fourth seed in Pool E, upend the third-seeded Warriors (34-8). Ashley Hamilton and Kelsea Nova led Indiana Tech with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Nova also had 18 digs and Hamilton 15. NO. 16 SPRING HILL 3, NO. 25 FREED-HARDEMAN 1 Yiting Cao pounded 21 kills and No. 16 Spring Hill notched its 40th win of the season in beating Freed-Hardeman 22-25, 25-18, 25-23, in the last tournament game for both squads. Taryn Nash distributed 45 assists for the victorious Badgers (40-3). Nash also scooped 15 digs, as did Cao -- the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year who hails from Shanghai, China. Sydney Rice led the attack for No. 25 Freed-Hardeman (28-11) with 16 kills. Rice also had 15 digs and a trio of ace serves. NO. 1 CONCORDIA (CALIF.) 3, NO. 12 COLLEGE OF IDAHO 1 Madison Ekis (19 kills) and Brooke Marino (18 kills) powered top-ranked Concordia past College of Idaho 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, for first-place in Pool A. Concordia (35-1) has won 34 straight matches and advances directly to tonight's quarterfinals. The Golden State Athletic Conference champions have advanced to at least the semifinals five times -- in seven national tournament appearances. First-year head coach Dan Fisher's Eagles were directed by the setting tandem of sophomore Elizabeth Younglove (26 assists) and freshman Jenee Henderson (19 assists). College of Idaho (26-4), which will play in a morning first-round single elimination match, was led by Kylee Nawahine, a transfer from BYU-Hawaii, with 12 kills. NO. 9 BIOLA (CALIF.) 3, NO. 4 EMBRY-RIDDLE (FLA.) 2 Biola rallied from two sets down to pull the first upset of the tournament, defeating Embry-Riddle 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-20, in an exciting match to wrap up first-place in Pool D for the Eagles. The win by Biola denied Embry-Riddle, which was playing without middle hitter Gloria Kemp, the right to advance directly to the quarterfinals, as both teams now face first-round single elimination contests this morning. Amy Westsetyn, a 6-3 freshman, led the Biola charge with 19 kills and just four errors for a.484 hitting percentage. Sarah McAtee, a 6-1 senior and Nicolette Mather, a 6-1 junior, backed up Westsetyn with 15 and 12 kills respectively, while the assists in the Eagles 6-2 offense were divided between Gracee Gallarda (30) and Nicolette Douglas (23), a pair of sophomores for coach Aaron Seltzer's club who play in the very competitive Golden State Athletic Conference. Abby Hall and Jordan Holcomb each supplied 19 kills for Embry-Riddle (29-5) while a balanced offensive attack, directed by junior setter Adriana Vazquez (58 assists), also saw Emily Jacobson with 13 kills and Taylor Martin 12. NO. 5 COLUMBIA (MO.) 3, NO. 8 LEWIS-CLARK STATE (IDAHO) 1 Columbia's balanced offensive attack, five players with nine kills or more, led to its 26-24, 26-28, 25-19, win over Lewis-Clark State and first-place in Pool E. The Cougars also advance directly to the quarterfinals, thanks to an earlier upset by Biola over fourth-ranked Embry-Riddle. Columbia's 5-8 junior setter Paula Ferreira provided 11 kills, 44 assists and nine digs for coach Melinda Wrye-Washington's club, now Vesena Trivunovic also had 11 kills while Kelly Corkum and Ola Shawky had 10 apiece and Serena Jenkins nine for the unbeaten regular season champions of the American Midwest Conference. Kelli Tikker, a 5-9 senior, led Lewis-Clark State, which will play in this morning's single-elimination first-round, with 12 kills. Nicole Graybeal added 10 kills while Nevena Dragovic had 36 asssists for coach LaToya Harris' club. NO. 7 ROCKY MOUNTAIN (MONT.) 3, NO. 6 AZUSA PACIFIC (CALIF.) 0

5 5 of 6 12/15/ :00 AM Sara Brunner powered 17 kills and Kristin Barott lifted 29 assists as Rocky Mountain earned first-place in Pool F with a 25-20, 25-15, win over Azusa Pacific. In the same pool together for the second straight year, Rocky Mountain got the upper hand this year, advancing to the single elimination portion of the national tournament for the first time. The Battlin' Bears, Frontier Conference champs, enter today's play having won nine straight matches. Whittany Radcliffe had 12 kills and Amy Alkazin 11 while setters Raechel Jones and Sophie Burns had 18 and 14 assists, respectively for the Cougars. NO. 18 TAYLOR (IND.) 3, NO. 22 GRAND VIEW (IOWA) 0 Ashlyn DeHoogh had 15 kills and Kelsey Pritchard 11 as Taylor closed out its national tournament with a 25-22, 25-19, win over Grand View in a pool F round robin match Thursday. Betsy Brown lifted 41 assists and Courtney Herschberger had 26 digs for the Trojans. Devon Jensen, a junior from Underwood, Iowa, led Grand View with 15 kills and 15 digs while sophomore setter Paige Harris contributed 22 digs. The Vikings, making their national tournament debut, closed its season at MIDAMERICA NAZARENE (KAN.) 3, NO. 15 MISSOURI BAPTIST 1 Linjun Ji had 18 kills as MidAmerica Nazarene closed out the national tournament with a 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, victory over Missouri Baptist Thursday night. Denise Dix added nine kills while setters Becca Powers and Kimmie Kreeger each contributed 20 assists for the Pioneers, the Heart of America Athletic Conference champions. Casey Chernin had 18 kills, Jessica Bowman 10 kills and Lauren Stuckel 38 assists in playing their final match for Missouri Baptist. -- Michael Brauer contributed to this story Copyright 2011 Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted in College on Thursday, December 1, :45 pm Updated: 3:30 pm. Tags: Naia, Texas, Brownsville, The Sun Conference, Andrea Hudson, Lee University, Head Coach, Sioux City, Arlene Ferreira, Christa Hutchison, Marjia Zelenovic, Kelsey Leffew, Gretchen Higdon, Liz Madden, Megan Bartling, Sarah Holgen, Caryn Westrick, Angela Spieker, Peyton Thompson, Lauryn Barfell, Columbia, Yui Iwase Share This Story Print ShareThis Other Stories Morningside's Iverson, Christensen NAIA All-Americans Texas-Brownsville wins first volleyball crown Texas-Brownsville claims first NAIA title Cyclones Sweep Into Sweet 16 Texas-Browsville advances to first title game Lee's Ferreira 'fired up' to face former team in semifinal Columbia sets sights on championship UNI sweeps Niagara, advances to second round Sponsored Links