Women's Volleyball Team Wins CCAC Conference Championship and Advances to NAIA Nationals
The Trolls may have entered the CCAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, but they came away as the champions. Trinity captured the conference tournament title with a win over the University of St. Francis (Joliet, Illinois) in the final match. The Trolls took the Fighting Saints in three straight sets at 25-19, 25-23, and 25-17. With the title, Trinity receives one of the CCAC’s automatic bids to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round on November 21.
Except for a couple of early ties, the Trolls had the lead in the first set. With a four point run with Tori Mantel on the serving line, Trinity took a 13-8 lead. Throughout the rest of the set the team continued to maintain a scoring gap. Ahead at 23-18, the Trolls gained their final two points on kills by Tina Massey.
The two teams were never separated by more than two points through the entire second set. Tied at 22-22, St. Francis took the lead on a kill. However the Trolls came right back and answered with two kills by Massey anew a final dagger by Kacie Stoll for the win.
The Trolls trailed through the early part of the third match and trailed at 11-9. They were not ready to let the match go and rallied on a 13-to-4 run to post s 22-15 lead. The Trolls reached set point at 24-17 on a kill by Christa Veenstra and ended the set and the match on a block by Stoll and Veenstra.
Overall Trinity ended with 43 kills with a .221 attacking percentage and St. Francis had 36 kills with a .140 percentage. Stoll ended the 11 kills, 10 digs, and four blocks. Massey had 10 kills and the team’s highest hitting percentage at .364. Mantel handed out 31 assists, two aces, and had 13 digs. Michelle Busscheralso had 13 digs. Veenstra led the team in blocks with five.
The Trolls advance to the Opening Round of the NAIA National Championship on November 25. The tournament qualifiers and pairings will be announced Monday, November 15 at 10 am. You can view the live Selection Show at www.NAIANetwork.com