Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: Final Four!
Final Four!
December 6, 2005
Defying polls and demonstrating endurance, the MBU women’s volleyball team closed their season this past weekend at nearly the top of their game.
Literally.
The MBU women’s volleyball team made it to the
final four at the 26th Annual NAIA Volleyball National
Championship in San Diego, Calif.
The Lady Spartans concluded their season just shy of a national championship with an impressive 37-6 overall record. The young team made it to the final four at the 26th Annual NAIA Volleyball National Championship in San Diego, Calif. before losing to Columbia College in a close four-game match.
The match ended a season-long rival between the two Missouri volleyball teams. MBU beat Columbia in the Graceland Tournament in September. The Cougars edged out MBU twice during regular season. However, the Lady Spartans beat the Cougars in the postseason conference and postseason regional tournaments.
Beginning the season without even a mention in the weekly NAIA Top 25 Ratings, the Lady Spartans were determined to succeed. And, as first-year Coach John Yehling can attest, the team’s unified determination yielded results.
“I am very proud of the way the girls played. The national tournament is something most of these girls have never experienced, and to respond to the pressure by advancing all the way to the semi-finals in remarkable,” Yehling said, who was recently selected by the Tachikara/AVCA as the NAIA Region V Coach of the Year.
The MBU women’s volleyball team poses for a picture
during their trip to San Diego Calif. for the
NAIA Volleyball National Championships.
“It is a long season, and to ask these girls to play six tough matches in less than four days is very difficult. The team was focused on playing their best and leaving everything they had on the floor,” he added.
During the 2005 season, the Lady Spartans claimed second in the AMC regular season, won the AMC Post Season Championship and clenched top honors at the Region V Championship.
Junior outside hitter Ana Mercado led the tournament in kills with 164 and kills per game with 7.81 to pace the offense. Junior setter Shannan Swiney had 281 assists over the four days. Freshman Tracey Abell, had 4.24 digs per game to lead the Spartans’ defense.
Ana Mercado and Tracey Abell were named to the NAIA National Championship’s All-Tournament Team.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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