Nov. 8, 2007

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SUNRISE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

The SUNY Canton women's volleyball team continued their strong inaugural season as a four-year athletic program as they captured the Sunrise Conference Championship Friday, Nov. 2nd at St. Joseph's College in Standish, Maine.

The Roos (16-7) now advance to the NAIA National Championship starting on November 28 in Columbia, Missouri.

On Friday, SUNY Canton put on dominating performance as they swept No. 4 University of Maine at Fort Kent 3-0 (30-8, 30-11, 30-12) and then downed No. 2 University of Maine at Machias 30-24, 30-18 and 30-16 to win the championship. Machias beat No. 3 Paul Smith's College in the other semifinal 30-14, 30-22 and 30-25.

CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY

The Conference Championship Tournaments are in full swing this week.  Sunrise Conference already crowned its champion on Friday, Nov. 2nd while 18 other conferences will hand out the title on Saturday, Nov. 10th.

The 2007 Regional Tournament will be played next week and the champion of each regional tournament will receive an automatic bid to the 2007 NAIA National Championship Tournament.

REGION II AND III DOMINATING THE POLL

Seven teams from Region II and five from Region III have been ranked in the top-25 this week.  Top five spots went to the teams in region two.  Fresno Pacific, California Baptist, Concordia (Calif.), Biola and Azusa Pacific are ranked 1-5 respectively. No. 9 Point Loma Nazarene and No. 17 Vanguard are also from region two.  Teams from region three include, No. 7 Dickinson State, No. 11 National American, No. 14-tied Northwestern, No. 16 Dordt and No. 19 Morningside.

CANDACE MOATS' CAREER WIN NO. 500 

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."

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.

LAWSON SET VIRGINIA-WISE SEASON DIG RECORD 

Britney Lawson set a new program standard for digs in a season to help UVa-Wise sweep host Bluefield College in women's volleyball Thursday night. Lawson dug 28 balls as the Lady Cavs prevailed by scores of 30-17, 30-25 and 30-20.

As a team, UVa-Wise posted its 18 th win of the season for the second most wins in a season in program history. The Lady Cavs are now 18-11 on the year and 12-5 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Bluefield dropped to 10-19 and 2-16 in the league.

Lawson, a junior from Rye Cove, Va., surpassed Kari Sparks' 2003 dig total of 653 with her fourth dig on Thursday night and now has a new record of 678 after recording 28 digs.

LADY RAMS DEFEAT NCAA DIV II #25 WEST FLORIDA  

The University of Mobile volleyball team picked up a huge win for the program Monday night by defeating NCAA Div II's 25th-ranked University of West Florida in a 3-2 (23-30, 30-20, 30-28, 30-32, 15-13) thriller.

The Lady Argos of West Florida came in with a 29-7 record and a 10-0 mark in conference play, while the Lady Rams have had similar success, entering with a 29-4 record and 8-0 conference mark. The match played out just like the comparable records would suggest: plenty of back-and-forth action, with each team in it to the bitter end.

The win nets the Lady Rams their 2nd straight 30-win season.