Crusader Volleyball Update
MCC Begins Conference Road Trips
09/27/2011
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders have been on the road for three straight games, taking on three Midwest Christian College Conference teams.
On Friday, October 23rd, the Lady Crusaders travelled to St. Louis Christian College. MCC dominated and swept SLCC winning 25-2, 25-4, and 25-10. Senior outside hitter Kirsten Cranford was unstoppable with 14 kills out of 15 swings.
Next, MCC took on Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, MO. MCC again swept the match winning 25-10, 25-15, 25-9. Senior outside hitter Cranford again led the offense with 13 kills. Freshmen outside hitter Kylie Rupe was close behind with 11 kills and 6 aces. Defense was led by sophomore libero Lauren Hall with 14 digs, freshmen defensive specialist Tiffany WIllbanks added 11 digs and junior right side hitter Kayla Hawkins also added 11 digs. Freshmen setter Paige Mortensen added 4 kills, 40 assists, 2 aces and 6 digs.
Tuesday night, the Lady Crusaders travelled to Belton, MO to take on Calvary Bible College. With freshmen outside hitter Kylie Rupe out with an injury, MCC put out a new line up. MCC struggled a little in the match but settled down quickly and controlled the match winning 25-20, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-20. The offense was led by both sophomore middles Tiffany Veer and Alyssa Strain with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Senior Kirsten Cranford was close behind with 11 kills, also contributing 6 aces, 16 digs and 3 block assists. Sophomore libero Lauren Hall had 17 digs and 1 ace.
The Lady Crusaders will travel to Joplin, MO this weekend to play Ozark Christian College and Faith Baptist Bible College.
MCC Struggles On the Road
09/20/2011
MCPHERSON, KS - MCC fell in 3 yesterday to NAIA opponent McPherson College, 21-25, 28-30, 16-25 at McPherson. Both teams. MCC fought hard, especially in the second set, but couldn't overcome some mental errors. Senior outside hitter Kirsten Cranford and sophomore middle hitter Tiffany Veer led the team in kills with 10 kills each. Freshmen outside hitter Kylie Rupe finished with 9 kills and sophomore middle hitter Alyssa Strain finished with 8 kills. The defense was led by freshmen libero Tiffany Willbanks with 17 digs. Cranford was close behind with 15 digs. Freshmen setter Paige Mortensen led the offense with 40 assists.
The Lady Crusaders will take on Union College Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in Manhattan.
MCC Wins at Home
09/17/2011
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders played Nebraska Christian College (NCC) at home on Friday night. MCC controlled the match and swept the Lady Parsons, winning 25-6, 25-8 and 25-8. This bring the Lady Crusaders record to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in the Midwest Christian College Conference. Senior outside hitter Kirsten Cranford led the team with 9 kills, 2 aces and 4 digs.
Our middle hitters both had outstanding games. Sophomore Alyssa Strain finished the match with 8 kills out of 10 swings and one block assist and sophomore Tiffany Veer finished with 5 kills out of 11 swings. The team served very well finishing with 21 aces all together. Coach Sanders said, "I was really proud of the way the girls kept the level of play on our side of the court very high. We weren't given much to work with but the girls turned every ball into a good play and stayed aggressive and intense the entire match!"
MCC will take on McPherson College on Monday in McPherson and will be back at home Tuesday night to play Union College from Lincoln, NE.
MCC Sweeps Barclay
09/13/2011
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders took on the Barclay Bears at home last night. MCC came away with the sweep! Winning the match 25-15, 25-11 and 25-16. Top performers were freshmen Kylie Rupe with 10 kills with a .438 hitting percentage, 1 ace and 10 digs; senior Kirsten Cranford finished with 12 kills and a .304 hitting percentage and 2 aces. Freshmen libero Tiffany Willbanks led the defense with 3 service aces and 12 digs. Freshmen setter, Paige Mortensen led the offense with 31 assists.
MCC will play Nebraska Christian College at home on Friday, September 16.
MCC Sweeps Pre-Conference Tourney
09/10/2011
SPRINGFIELD, MO - The Lady Crusaders push their record to 8-4 with a great showing this weekend at the NCCAA Central Region Pre-Regional Tournament in Springfield, MO. MCC went undefeated in their five matches.
The weekend started out with the third seeded team Baptist Bible College. MCC controlled the entire match and came away with a sweep of all three sets. BBC worked their way out of the Losers bracket and MCC faced them again in the second round of play. Again the Lady Crusaders were unstoppable and took all three sets.
The next round brought on the #1 seeded team, Grace University. The GU Royals were ranked #6 nationally in the NCCAA Pre-Season Top 10 poll. It was a hard fought match with great play on both sides of the court. MCC took the first set, starting out strong with a 10 point run with serves from freshman Kylie Rupe. Grace rallied back and took the next two sets. However, the Lady Cru were ready to fight and came out strong the fourth set taking back control of the match and taking the fourth and fifth sets to win the match.
Saturday brought on Central Christian College of the Bible, with MCC easily winning the match. The championship match once again was against Grace University. Knowing the Royals would come out fighting MCC was ready for the challenge. MCC won the match in four sets to take first place.
Standouts from this weekend were senior outside hitter, Kirsten Cranford, from Manhattan, KS, finishing the weekend with 56 kills, 14 service aces, 44 digs, and 4 blocks. Freshmen outside hitter, Kylie Rupe also from Manhattan, KS had an outstanding weekend with 70 kills, 10 service aces, 61 digs and 6 blocks. Freshmen setter, Paige Mortensen from Oklahoma City, OK led our offense with 193 assists.
The Lady Crusaders have two home games this week to begin conference play. Tuesday, they take on the Barclay Bears from Haviland, KS and Friday will bring Nebraska Christian College.
MCC Hits the Road
08/30/2011
MANHATTAN, KS - The Lady Crusaders opened their season with back to back NAIA road games. First up was Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS. MCC fell short losing in 3 sets. The Crusaders fought hard and really started to come together in the second and third set. "This game was a major wake up for our new girls! It was their first chance to see the kind of competition we play and what level they need to play at! They really learned a lot from this game," said Coach Sanders.
The next night was against Bethel College in Newton, KS. MCC fell again in 3 sets. The first set, the ladies came out flat and struggled to get going. However, in the second and third sets it was a fight to the end on both teams part. Coach Sanders said, "Our girls finally started to fight and play their hearts out! You could see them realizing on the court that they are a threat to other teams and that if a team is going to beat us they are going to have to work hard! This is exactly what we have been wanting to see from our team!"
MCC travels to Ankeny, IA this weekend to play in the Faith Baptist Bible College Spikefest Tournament. The first home game will be September 6th against Southwestern College.