BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - The Olivet Nazarene University women's volleyball team has earned the right to compete in the NAIA national tournament this evening as the Tigers defeated the Saints from the University of St. Francis (Ill.) in four games with scores of 27-29, 25-17, 25-16, 25-23. This year's win makes it the fourth straight year the Tigers have won the honor.

The championship match lived up to its name, as both teams fought tooth and nail to capture the CCAC tournament championship.
The first game set the tone, as a 29-27 nail bitter went in St. Francis' favor. The Saints came out strong and didn't let up even as they lost a three point lead with the score at 24-21. The Tigers fought back with three straight points to tie the game with hopes of taking the set. The score went back and forth with USF taking the lead each time, but ONU kept retaliating to match the score. The Saints finally put two points back-to-back ending with a solo block from USF's Lauren Hoffman (Plainfield, Ill.)

The momentum swung back to the Tigers' favor, as they won the second game with a score of 25-17. The Saints never really gave the Tigers a challenge as ONU kept a steady lead of 8 points throughout the game. Offensively, the Tigers dominated the game, putting together an attack percentage of .459 compared to the Saints' .146.

Game three wasn't much different from game two. The Tigers out-hit the Saints consistently throughout the match. Sara Byrne (Downers Grove, Ill.) and Terese Byrne (Downers Grove, Ill.) teamed up at the net to produce two block assists in the set.

With the season on the line, the Saints didn't lay down in the final game. USF began the game with a 6-0 lead before giving the Tigers their first two points on missed serve attempts. Both teams hit poorly throughout, but the Tigers were able to pull out the victory with a tight score of 25-23.

On the night, both teams had outstanding performers. For the Saints, four players reached double figures in kills, led by junior Lauren Hoffman's 13. Hoffman attacked at a .429 percentage in the match. Sarah Ahline (Lemont, Ill.) and Jazzmyne Robbins (Peru, Ill.) each had 12, while Kyrsten Becker (Arlington Heights, Ill.) registered 11 kills of her own. Setter Ashley Richards (Wilmington, Ill.) had a great game, recording 44 of her squad's 45 assists. Defensively, Courtney Ambrosch (Joliet, Ill.) stood out as she accumulated 18 digs on the night.

The Tigers had standout performances as well. Molly Goldbach (Redondo Beach, Calif.), who had been sidelined for the past three matches with an injured ankle, came back with a vengeance as she put up an attack percentage of .571 with 10 kills. Stephanie Smith (Bourbonnais, Ill.) tallied 21 total kills (.306), while Sara Byrne and Terese Byrne each had 15 and 12 kills respectively. Senior setter Erin Sikora (Elgin, Ill.) recorded 51 assists, while Lauren Comfort (Joliet, Ill.) and DeeAnn Garvin (Bloomington, Ind.) each had 15 digs.

With the win, the Tigers captured an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament. With their current #12 ranking in the top 25 NAIA coaches' poll, the Tigers have a great chance of receiving a bye for the first round of the national tournament. As a result of the bye, ONU will first compete at the Tyson Event Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa on Tuesday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 5. Confirmation for the first round bye will be made on Sunday evening.