KISSIMMEE, FL - For the third time in four years, the women's volleyball team locked up a berth into the NCCAA II National Tournament via a win during the East Region Title. Although the group has generally faired well in previous years during the national tourney, entering 2009 the Crimson Eagles had yet to advance past pool play.
Hoping to change that piece of history during their most recent campaign, the same own story slowly unraveled during the team's two-day trip down south.
Playing as the ninth seed within the 10 team tournament, the Crimson Eagles opened up day one by dropping back-to-back contests Thursday afternoon, falling to both Lincoln Christian College and the Trinity College of Florida.
The Crimson Eagles kicked-off play by falling to top-seeded Lincoln Christian University 3-0. Game scores against the Red Lions were 30-28, 25-23, 25-18. Betsy Ranck tallied 24 assists and Kay Lynn Zeiset posted five digs and three aces. Carly Plank and Lindsay Dager chipped in with nine and eight kills, respectively.
Looking to change the tide in their second match of the day, the Crimson Eagles once again came up short as the group fell by scores of 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22 against Trinity College of Florida. Statistics for the group's match against Tigers are currently unavailable.
In desperate need of a pair of wins on Friday in order to keep their championship hopes alive, PBU's upset bid was thwarted against Manhattan Christian College as the fourth-seeded Crusaders erased any hope of the Crimson Eagles advancing during a 3-1 battle. Manhattan pulled out the victory by scores of 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 25-21.
Ranck collected 39 assists in the loss while Plank chipped in with 15 kills and five aces. Calderon added 12 kills and four block assists and Zeiset posted 21 digs and two aces.
After getting dropped during each of their first three outings in Florida, PBU picked up the pace in their final match of the season during a 3-1 triumph over Ozark Christian College. Game scores were 17-25, 25-16, 25-15, 30-28.
Ranck tallied a season high count of 49 assits while Dager added 14 kills. Calderon carded 13 kills and 22 stops on the defensive end and Zeiset contributed 24 digs.
The volleyball squad ends the season with a 21-18 overall record.
