Columbia College and Missouri Baptist, two teams from the NAIA’s American Midwest Conference and the state of Missouri, squared off last night for the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa. These two schools are located about 100 miles from each other, one and one-half hours by Interstate 70, and the intense in-state rivalry is obvious. Both schools have very strong athletics programs, with tradition and heritage to match the strength of these programs. This match was not just for the NAIA championship; it was also for “braggin” rights in the state of Missouri. After the dust settled and the smoke cleared, the Cougars of Columbia College had defeated the Spartans of Missouri Baptist University 3-0 (28-26, 25-16, 25-21) for the NAIA national title.
Energy, enthusiasm, and excitement were apparent as Missouri Baptist sent up the first serve. The two teams battled throughout the first set in a see-saw contest that eventually led to a 24-22, double set point lead for the Spartans. The Cougars, however, dug in and tied the score at 24 all. Missouri Baptist claimed a third set point at 25-24, but again the Spartans could not close out the set as Columbia evened the score at 25 all. The Spartans immediately acquired their fourth set point at 26-25, and once again, the tenacity of the Cougars came through as they knotted the score at 26 all. This time, however, the Cougars gained the upper hand at 27-26 and, with a great block from Penny Liu and Maria Franco, finished off the set at 28-26.
Everything fell into place for the Cougars in the second set as they rode the momentum of their first set victory. After some early back and forth skirmishes, Columbia College took the lead for good at 11-10. The Cougars breezed through the rest of the set behind some stellar hitting by Amber Graham, outscoring the Spartans 14-6 to realize victory in the second set at 25-16.
Missouri Baptist refused to quit, however, and showed true grit as the Lady Spartans fought the Cougars point for point in the third set. Both teams obviously wanted the victory, neither team gave an inch, and neither team was going to lose this set without a fight. With the score tied at 21-21, Penny Liu of Columbia College notched another kill, her twelfth of the night, as the Cougars recorded 4 consecutive points to surge to victory at 25-21, winning their fourth NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship.
Missouri Baptist finished the season with a 39-5 record while the Cougars closed out the year at 33-7. Candidly, it was a hard-fought match and it’s a shame one of these two teams had to lose. However, on this night, the Cougars were clearly the better team, as the boxscore below demonstrates. They outhit the Spartans, .308 to .156, and outblocked them, 13.5 to 3.0, en route to the national championship.
COLUMBIA COLLEGE COUGARS
| Player | SP | K | E | TA | Pct. | Asst. | Dig | BS | BA | PTS |
| Heredia, Sashiko | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | .250 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Franco, Maria | 3 | 6 | 0 | 11 | .545 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11.5 |
| Graham, Amber | 3 | 10 | 3 | 17 | .412 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12.0 |
| Severina, Polina | 3 | 6 | 1 | 27 | .185 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8.0 |
| Liu, Penny | 3 | 12 | 1 | 33 | .333 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 15.0 |
| Chatziefstratiadou, Eirini | 3 | 6 | 2 | 18 | .222 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9.0 |
| Robinson, Sasha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Simpson, Mikah | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
| Team Totals: | 44 | 8 | 117 | .308 | 40 | 50 | 4 | 19 | 61.5 |
MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY SPARTANS
| Player | SP | K | E | TA | Pct. | Asst. | Dig | BS | BA | PTS |
| Cook, Taylor | 3 | 7 | 5 | 20 | .100 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 |
| Carey, Hannah | 3 | 18 | 3 | 43 | .349 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 18.5 |
| Krus, Ally | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | .000 | 40 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Medanovic, Kristina | 3 | 11 | 4 | 28 | .250 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 |
| Mennemeyer, Logan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Dillon, Mallory | 3 | 9 | 12 | 37 | -.081 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 9.5 |
| Pouliezos, Haley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Couraud, Marion | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Team Totals: | 46 | 25 | 135 | .156 | 42 | 53 | 1 | 4 | 50.0 |
Here’s a rundown of the tournament honors, which were dominated, as expected, by the tournament champions, the Columbia College Cougars.
- Penny Liu of the Columbia Cougars was named the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball National Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP).
- Haley Pouliezos of the Missouri Baptist University Spartans was selected as the National Championship Libero of the Year honors went to Junior
- Melinda Wrye-Washington of Columbia College was chosen as the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball National Championship Coach of the Year.
- Biola University of La Mirada, California, was designated as the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Team Champions of Character.
- The 2015 NAIA Volleyball National Championship All-Tournament Team.
- Alyssa Mason, Biola University
- Sierra Porter, College of Idaho
- Sashiko Heredia, Columbia College
- Penny Liu, Columbia College
- Polina Severina, Columbia College
- Lauren Schneidtmiller, Georgetown College
- Logan Drueppel, Hastings College
- Carol Siqueira, Lindsey Wilson College
- Makenzie Montano, Lindsey Wilson College
- Priscilla O’Dowd, Midland University
- Mallory Dillon, Missouri Baptist University
- Haley Pouliezos, Missouri Baptist University
- Sarah McKinney, Vanguard University
- Jennifer Krentz, Viterbo University
- Natalie Geidel, Viterbo University
For more information on this match and the tournament, see the website below. http://www.naia.org//SportSelect.dbml?&&DB_OEM_ID=27900&SPID=100402&SPSID=646082
LET’S GROW VOLLEYBALL!