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Â鶹ÊÓƵ volleyball wins TranSouth Tournament title; Neathamer named MVP

JACKSON, Tenn. - 11/11/2008 - The Â鶹ÊÓƵ University Lady Bulldog volleyball team swept through the without a loss, earning their first conference title since the 2004 season. The title gives Â鶹ÊÓƵ their second trip (2004, 2008) to the NAIA National Tournament since the program's beginning in 1998.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ's CJ Neathamer was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player as she led the tournament 7.4 digs per game. Joining Neathamer on the All-Tournament team was junior setter Katie Adams who led the tournament with 11.1 assists per game. Also on the team from Â鶹ÊÓƵ was sophomore hitter, Heather Lieberman, who was third in the tournament with a .315 hitting percentage. She also talled 45 tournament kills, leading Â鶹ÊÓƵ in kills two of the four matches played.

In the 11-year history of Â鶹ÊÓƵ volleyball, the Lady Bulldogs have captured three TranSouth Tournament titles (1999, 2004, 2008) and three regular season titles (1999, 2000, 2004).

Earlier in the day, No. 2 seeded Â鶹ÊÓƵ defeated Lyon (Ark.) College 3-1 to earn a spot in the championship round. Â鶹ÊÓƵ Head Coach Steven Gream knew that he and his players could now just sit and watch as their opponent had to earn their way out of the loser’s bracket, and then have to defeat his Lady Bulldogs twice.

The opponent that emerged was the No. 3 seeded Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University Trojans. Trevecca Nazarene had lost the first game of the tournament early on Monday morning, but rolled off four straight victories to avoid elimination. Included in their run to the championship round, via the loser’s bracket, was a win that eliminated top seeded Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ started the title match with a lot of intensity as they fed off the energy of the home crowd to take the first game 25-14. It looked early as if the Trojans had finally hit the wall after playing in their third match of the day. But that notion was soon forgotten as Trevecca Nazarene announced their intent to push for the tournament title. The Trojans took the second game, 25-18 to even the score at 1-1.

Game three was back-and-forth as both teams struggled to get momentum. Â鶹ÊÓƵ finally jumped up 22-18, late before holding on for the 25-23 win.

In game four, the Trojans quickly jumped out to a lead and took momentum. Â鶹ÊÓƵ cut the lead to two points on several occasions, with the last coming 15-13, but could not get any closer. Trevecca Nazarene took game four 25-16, leveling the match at 2-2.

In game five, the crowd for Â鶹ÊÓƵ rallied the Lady Bulldog players as they looked to end the match and not force the ‘if necessary’ championship match. Â鶹ÊÓƵ jumped out to a 2-0 lead, before the Trojans tied the game at 2-2. Â鶹ÊÓƵ responded with a 6-1 run to take an 8-3 lead as they snatched the momentum.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ kept scoring and led 14-10, serving for match point. However, as they had done all during the tournament, Trevecca Nazarene bounced back with four straight points to tie the match at 14-14. After a both teams dug attack attempts from the other team, Â鶹ÊÓƵ earned the point on a kill from setter, Katie Adams. Adams then served for tournament point, forcing the Trojans into a hitting error, putting Â鶹ÊÓƵ in the national tournament.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ was led by Heather Lieberman with 12 kills. Ashley Young added 11 kills, while Emilie Ogas and Amanda Coyle posted 10 kills each. Adams recorded 44 assists in the match, while CJ Neathamer led with 29 digs. Freshman Anna Sims led Â鶹ÊÓƵ with nine blocks.

Trevecca Nazarene was led by Ashton O’Halloran with 23 kills. Kaley Ward and Kristen Evans added 10 kills each. Kelly Huff recorded 47 assists, while Jessica Hood led with 22 digs. Ward also led with four blocks.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ will await their opponent and location for the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round to be determined by the NAIA after all conference tournaments are completed this week. November 22 will be the day for the opening round, while the final site location and dates for the national tournament will be Sioux City, Iowa on December 2-6.

2008 TranSouth Conference All-Tournament Team
CJ Neathamer, Â鶹ÊÓƵ University (Most Valuable Player)
Katie Adams, Â鶹ÊÓƵ University
Heather Lieberman, Â鶹ÊÓƵ University
Kelly Huff, Trevecca Nazarene University
Kimi Coffey, Trevecca Nazarene University
Katie Beineke, Lyon College
Katie Ball, Cumberland University

#UNION#

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