Nov. 1, 2007

Submitted by Kyle Schmidt, Sports Information Director, Indiana Wesleyan University

MARION, Ind. -- One victory went a long way for Indiana Wesleyan University head volleyball coach Candace Moats.

With a 3-2 win against Huntington (Ind.) University on Halloween night, Moats reached a career milestone with win No. 500. But that was not the most important occurrence of the night for Moats as the win clinched a share of the Mid-Central College Conference championship. The conference title is her third in six years at Indiana Wesleyan.

"What a great night for this to happen," said Moats. "We won a share of the MCC championship on the same night I won No. 500. I made sure the girls were motivated to win the championship and not for me getting the 500th win. I did not want that extra pressure on them."

Indiana Wesleyan worked extremely hard to garner the victory for the title and for their coach. Huntington provided a steep challenge for the Wildcats with a tough gym to play in and a quality team.

"Huntington is a very good team and they had not lost a home game all year. They were one of the most well-rounded opponents we have played this year," Moats said. "Their fans really made it an exciting atmosphere to play in. With it being Halloween, they really had a lot of fun at the game."

But the Wildcats were able to overcome the Foresters in five games by scores of 30-27, 27-30, 28-30, 30-25, 15-11.

"That was a fun way to celebrate 500 wins. There was an electric atmosphere, the girls performed wonderfully and to win a share of the MCC title."

"I look across the years and it seems like forever," said Moats on the subject of what 500 wins means to her professionally, "That's a lot of national anthems."

"I look back to my first year in coaching at Crown (Minn.) College in 1984 and I can see these faces from all the programs I have been at. What I see is 500 opportunities to impact kids in life. It's a big, celebratory number, and it's an honor to have reached it, but it's the privilege to have that opportunity to impact so many people through coaching."

Moats' career record now stands at 500-223 (.692 winning percentage) as she coaches in her 24th season.

During her 24 year career to date, Moats has captured three National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championships, three NCCAA National Coach of the Year awards, four NCCAA Regional Championships, one NAIA Regional Championship, one trip to the NAIA National Tournament, seven MCC championships and a current streak of five consecutive MCC Tournament championships.

Although the win brought a new landmark to her coaching career, the one point that Moats never failed to bring to the forefront were the opportunities she has received with the student-athletes and how they live their life.

That is what Indiana Wesleyan University athletics is all about.