Crusader Volleyball Update
Season Wrap Up
11/20/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders finish another successful season! MCC finished with an overall record of 26-8 and a 10-0 record in the Midwest Christian College Conference. MCC was the MCCC Conference Champion for the second straight year and the NCCAA Central Region Champion for the 3rd straight year. The team had an excellent showing at the National Tournament going 3-1 in pool play and finishing in the Final Four for the 2nd year in a row.
Many of the Lady Crusaders also received individual awards this season:
Jen McGauley - Conference MVP, Regional MVP and Libero of the Year, 1st Team All-American and National Libero of the Year, American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCCAA 1st Team All-American
Katie Jensen - 1st Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-Region, 2nd Team All-American, Scholar Athlete
Laura Skiles - 2nd Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-Region
Aly Woodbury - 2nd Team All-Conference, 1st Team All-Region, Scholar Athlete
Tiffany Brax - 2nd Team All-Conference
Kirsten Cranford - All-Conference Honorable Mention
Several career records where also set this season:
Katie Jensen - 2nd highest number of kills over a career - 946 kills
Holds the record for most blocks in a career - 214 total blocks
Holds the record for the most sets played in a career - 468 sets
Jen McGauley - Holds the record for most digs in a career - 2205 digs
Laura Skiles - 2nd highest number of blocks in a career - 152 total blocks
Congratulations to these individual players and to the team as a whole on another record setting season!
The Lady Crusaders Finish Undefeated in Conference
11/5/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - The final standings were released this week for the Midwest Christian College Conference with MCC winning the Regular Season Conference. The Lady Crusaders went 10-0 in the Conference. This is the 2nd straight Conference win for the Lady Crusaders.
Jen McGauley was awarded the Conference Most Valuable Player and Katie Jensen was awarded 1st Team All Conference. Aly Woodbury, Laura Skiles and Tiffany Brax were all awarded 2nd Team All Conference and Kirsten Cranford was an All Conference Honorable Mention.
Congratulations to the team on a great Conference finish!!!
MCC Wins Regional Championship
10/31/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders won their third straight NCCAA Division II Central Region Tournament this past weekend. MCC went undefeated for the season against all Central Region teams.
MCC started the weekend playing against the #4 seeded Central Bible College Lady Spartans. MCC sailed through the match winning 25-11, 25-4, 25-8. This win would advance the Crusaders to the second round where they would play Grace University.
The game against Grace was a tough and intense 5 set match win MCC coming out on top. MCC came out flat the first set losing 13-25. However, that was enough to wake them up and MCC took the next set 25-21. From there it was back and forth again, Grace took the third set 21-25 and MCC took the fourth set 25-19. It came down to the fifth and final set and it was a nail biter to end, MCC finished the match 16-14. This win would advance the Lady Crusaders straight to the Championship game on Saturday.
Saturday brought just as tough of a challenge as Friday night had. MCC played Grace yet again, for the championship. The game again very intense and went to another 5 sets. The Lady Crusaders gave it everything they had and played their hearts out. It was again back and forth each set, but MCC finished the game taking the Central Region Championship. The scores were 21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-9, 15-13.
Several Lady Crusaders were awarded All-Region Awards:
Jen McGauley - Central Region MVP and Central Region Libero of the Year
Katie Jensen - 1st Team All Region
Laura Skiles - 1st Team All Region
Aly Woodbury - 1st Team All Region
The Lady Crusaders will now advance to the NCCAA Division II National Tournament where they will enter as the #4 seed. The National Tournament is November 12-14 in Kissimmee, FL at the Kissimmee Convention Center.
Lady Crusaders Sweep Weekend Matches
10/17/2009
BELTON, MO - The Lady Crusaders defeated Ozark Christian College and Calvary Bible College in three sets each during a weekend road trip.
Friday night, the Lady Crusaders defeated Ozark Christian College of Joplin, MO in three sets. The scores were 25-22, 25-16 and 25-22. Senior middle hitter, Katie Jensen, was outstanding from the middle with 10 kills, 1 error for a .529 attacking percentage. Jensen also had 5 digs and 5 solo blocks. Junior right side hitter Aly Woodbury had a solid night with 9 kills, 0 errors for a .692 attacking percentage. Woodbury also had 1 ace, 9 digs and 1 block assist.
On Saturday in Belton, MO, the Lady Crusaders also swept Calvary Bible College in three sets. The scores were 25-6, 25-22, and 25-10. Sophomore outside hitter, Kirsten Cranford went 13-1 from the outside for an attacking percentage of 52%. Senior middle hitter, Laura Skiles went 12-1 with an attacking percentage of 61%. Sophomore setter, Tiffany Brax, led the offense with 39 assists. Senior libero, Jen McGauley finished the match with 2 kills, 2 aces and 14 digs.
MCC Wins in Four on the Road
10/14/2009
BELLEVUE, KS - On Tuesday, the Lady Crusaders defeated Nebraska Christian College of Bellevue, NE in four sets. The scores were 33-31, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17.
Junior right side hitter, Aly Woodbury lead the team with 21 kills and only two errors for a .559 attack percentage. Aly also had 1 ace, 13 digs and 2 block assists. Senior middle hitter, Katie Jensen and sophomore outside hitter Kirsten Cranford both had 13 kills. Sophomore setter Tiffany Brax had 55 assists, 2 kills, and 4 digs.
Mixed Results at Weekend Matches
10/5/2009
STERLING, KS - The Lady Crusaders defeated McPherson College on Saturday in 4 sets. MCC played solid all four sets winning 25-17, 25-20, 23-25 and 25-20. Sophomore outside hitter, Kirsten Cranford was unstoppable from the outside. She finished the match with 17 kills and a .359 kill percentage. Senior middle hitter, Katie Jensen also contributed well from the middle. Jensen put down 11 kills for a kill percentage of .417, she also had 3 solo blocks and 2 block assists.
Later that night, the Lady Crusaders took on Sterling College for the second time this season. In the first match-up, MCC defeated Sterling in three sets. However, this time Sterling turned the tables and defeated the Lady Crusaders in three. SC came out fired up and ready for revenge. The Lady Crusaders failed to get in a rythym or to take control of the match. MCC lost 20-25, 16-25 and 16-25.
Another Road Win
9/29/2009
McPHERSON, KS - MCC defeated Central Christian College, a NAIA team in McPherson, KS. MCC contolled the entire match and won in three sets with scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-13.
Junior Aly Woodbury led the team with 12 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs and 1 block. Sophomore, Kirsten Cranford had 9 kills, 3 aces, and 5 digs.
MCC Wins Weekend Matches
9/28/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - On Friday, September 25th, MCC defeated Ozark Christian College from Joplin, MO, in 5 sets. The scores were 23-25, 25-17, 25-15, 21-25 and 15-12. The match was well fought on both sides of the court. Junior right side hitter, Aly Woodbury, led the team in kills with 17, a .353 kill percentage, 5 digs and 2 solo blocks. Senior middle hitter, Katie Jensen had 15 kills, a .394 kill percentage, 5 digs, a 3 block assists. Sophomore setter, Tiffany Brax had 2 kills, 60 assists, and 10 digs. Senior libero, Jen McGauley had 36 digs and 7 kills.
On Saturday, September 26th, MCC played Sterling College, a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, from Sterling, KS. MCC won the match in three sets with scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-23. Senior middle hitter, Laura Skiles finished with 11 kills, a .409 kill percentage, and one solo block. Senior libero, Jen McGauley was phenomenal on defense putting up 41 digs and 3 aces.
MCC Wins in Five at Union
9/24/2009
LINCOLN, NE - MCC defeated Union College, in Lincoln, NE in an intense 5 set match. The scores were 21-25, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25 and 15-11. It was a hard fought match on both sides of the court. MCC struggled on serve receive in the beginning but in the end controlled the match well and ran a great offense.
Team leaders were Senior middle hitter, Katie Jensen with 22 kills and only 1 error for a 55% kill percentage, senior middle Laura Skiles finished with 16 kills and 5 errors and a 31% kill percentage. Sophomore setter, Tiffany Brax kept the offense going and finished strong with 68 set assists. Senior libero, Jen McGauley was very strong on defense with 59 digs and 4 serving aces.
The Lady Crusaders have two home games this weekend, taking on Ozark Christian Colleg on Friday and Sterling College on Saturday.
MCC Sweeps Nebraska Christian
9/19/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - On Saturday, September 19, Manhattan Christian College defeated Nebraska Christian College in three sets. The scores were 25-10, 25-22, 25-19. Sophomore outside hitter, Kirsten Cranford led with 9 kills and a .38 kill percentage. Junior right side hitter, Aly Woodbury finished with 7 kills and no errors with a .56 kill percentage.
MCC Defeats Barclay in Three
9/16/2009
HAVILAND, KS - Tuesday night, the Lady Crusaders took on a fellow Midwest Christian College Conference team, Barclay College. MCC played a solid match, winning in three. Sophomore outside hitter, Kirsten Cranford was a powerhouse from the outside with 10 kills. Senior middle hitters, Katie Jensen and Laura Skiles both had 8 kills and 2 solo blocks each. Senior libero, Jen McGauley was perfect on defense with 21 digs out of 21 attempts. The girls played three solid sets and kept our level of play high! It was a great match!
The Lady Crusaders will take on Nebraska Christian College at home on Saturday, September 19 at 1:00.
Lady Crusaders Undefeated at Pre-Region Classic
9/14/2009
OMAHA, NE - The Lady Crusaders had an excellent weekend at the NCCAA Pre Region Central Classic. MCC went undefeated over the weekend, beating Central Bible College, Saint Louis Christian College, Baptist Bible College and Grace University.
The first day of the Classic brought on Central Bible College and Saint Louis Christian College. The Lady Crusaders came out strong against CBC. Our focus was to keep our intensity high and play our level of game throughout the entire match no matter what was happening on the other side of the net. The team played well and took the match 25-12, 25-12 and 25-15. Senior middle hitter, Laura Skiles had a phenomenal game. Skiles put down 12 kills and had 2 solo blocks. Freshmen outside hitter, Kayla Miller really stepped up her game and had 11 kills, 5 aces, 11 digs and 1 block assist. Sophomore setter, Tiffany Brax had 40 assists and 8 digs. Junior defensive specialist, Halie Brown really led the defense well in the absence of our libero. Brown had a solid game with 2 kills, and 16 digs.
The next match was St. Louis Christian College. MCC struggled a bit at the beginning getting used to a slower pace of game. We again needed to focus on playing our level of game throughout the match. After a close first set with MCC winning 25-18, the Lady Crusaders came out in full force the final two sets winning both 25-10. Skiles again led the team in kills with 11, she also got the rare opportunity to serve and did an excellent job! She led the team in aces with 6. Miller finished with 9 kills, 3 aces and 5 digs. Brax had 38 assists.
On Saturday, we knew the competition was going to be tougher. Our first match was Baptist Bible College. Before the match we talked about raising our standard for our level of play and the Lady Crusaders definitely delivered a higher standard! MCC took the match in three winning 25-11, 25-22 and 25-9. Senior middle hitter Katie Jensen led with 9 kills, 3 aces, 3 digs, 1 solo block and 1 block assist. Skiles played a stong game as well, finishing with 9 kills, 3 solo blocks and 1 block assist. Senior libero, Jen McGauley was very stong on defense with 22 digs.
The final match of the classic was against Grace University. Both GU and MCC were undefeated going into the final match. We knew this was going to be our toughest and most intense match of the tournament. Both teams came out strong, loud and intense! MCC took the first set 25-22. Grace rallied back in the second set and won 25-22. That shook MCC up a bit but they weren't ready to give up. The Lady Crusaders really controlled the next two sets and finished the game winning 25-19 and 26-24. It was an awesome game on both sides of the court! Junior right side Aly Woodbury played one of the best games of her career, with an amazing 11 kills, 2 assists, 1 ace, 18 digs and 2 block assists. Miller, played a strong and smart game from the outside, finishing with 10 kills, 3 aces and 7 digs. Our middles were fantastic playing against Grace strongest players, their two middles. Jensen finished with 9 kills, 4 digs and 1 block. Skiles finished with 6 kills, 2 solo blocks and 2 block assists. Brax led the offense with her 43 assists and played great on defense with 11 digs. McGauley was strong in the back court, both attacking and on defense. McGauley had 9 kills, 3 aces and 26 digs.
The Lady Crusaders next match is Tuesday, September 15 at Barclay College. Our next home game is Saturday, September 19 against Nebraska Christian College.
MCC Wins Home Opener
9/9/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - Tuesday night the MCC Lady Crusaders took on Calvary Bible College. MCC started out a little slow, with Calvary being on top for most of the game. "We had several unforced errors and miscommunications that really affected our game." said Coach Sanders. "However, with a little encouragement and the help of our amazing fans we took control of the match!" MCC won the first set 25-19. The second set was all MCC with a score of 25-5. MCC had 14 kills, 4 aces and 3 blocks in just the second set. The Warriors rallied back a little in the third set, but MCC was still too much for Calvary to handle. MCC took the third and final set 25-13.
Sophomore outside hitter, Kirsten Cranford, had an excellent game. Cranford led the team with 15 kills, 1 ace and 1 block. Junior right side hitter, Aly Woodbury was close behind with 9 kills and zero errors for a 60% kill percentage. Woodbury also had 4 aces, and 8 digs. Sophomore setter, Tiffany Brax finished the game with 35 assists, 6 digs and 1 solo block. It was an great effort by everyone on the court. The team finished with 46 kills, a 38% kill percentage, 9 aces, 50 digs, 3 solo block and 2 block assists.
This weekend, the Lady Crusaders will travel to Omaha, NE to participate in the Central Pre-Regional Classic. MCC will play Central Bible College of Springfield, MO and St. Louis Christian College, of St. Louis, MO on Friday. On Saturday, MCC will play Baptist Bible College of Springfield, MO and Grace University of Omaha, NE. The next home game for the Lady Crusaders will be September 19, against Nebraska Christian College.
2009 Season Preview
8/31/2009
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders are anxiously waiting to get the 2009 season underway. MCC has 8 returning players, including 3 seniors and 3 new recruits. "The team has come together quite well in the short time we've been practicing," said Coach Sanders. "I have been very pleased with the level of intensity and competitiveness on this year's squad."
Last year, the Lady Crusaders were the NCCAA Central Region Champions, the MCCC Conference Champions and finished in 3rd place at the NCCAA National Tournament. The team is excited to see another season of great competition and see just how high we can finish again!