Day 2 Review: What a Day!
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Nov. 30, 2007) – After watching the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Volleyball Tournament on Day 2, you wouldn’t know that its top four seeds advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round unless you looked at a program. Almost all of Friday’s competition was even as all eight teams fought for their season’s lives to stay alive for Saturday.

With the culmination of pool play, fans will see No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 2 Bethel (Ind.), No. 3 The Master’s (Calif.) and No. 4 Southwestern Assemblies of God (Tex.) in the Final Four.

Indiana Wesleyan’s ride to Saturday seemed to be the least stressful, as the Wildcats took care of all their opponents in three-game matches. After handing Southwestern Assemblies of God (SAGU) and Bryan defeats on Thursday, Northwestern became the victim on Friday as the Eagles failed to see 20 points in any of the three games.

IWU will face off against The Master’s College in the semifinals, where they’ll run in to the Roleder sisters in Amanda and Rachel. Both throttled their team to two victories on Friday with a combined 90 kills in eight games. After taking a defeat from Bethel on Thursday, the Mustangs from Master’s came back with a vengeance on Friday, handing losses to Palm Beach Atlantic and Cedarville – last year’s final two teams.

Switching gears to the other half of the semifinals finds second-seeded Bethel and No.4 Southwestern Assemblies of God. Bethel, who ran the table in Pool B, was given a run for their money by No. 7 Palm Beach Atlantic, who took the Pilots to 15-13 in the fifth game. The Pilots also took care of Cedarville 3-0 earlier in the day. The NCCAA’s three-time champion in Bethel is riding the coattails of Erica Bruxvoort, who is averaging 4.92 kills per game in the tournament.

Facing off against Bethel is Southwestern Assemblies of God, who gave everything they had to make it into the Final Four. At 1-1 after Day 1, SAGU lost a three-game set to a passionate Bryan team, causing a three-way tie between SAGU, Bryan and Northwestern for Pool A’s second spot in the semifinals. After the tie-breaker process went to a third level (total points given to opposing teams involved), Bryan and the Lions from Southwestern Assemblies went at it again in a one-game-to-30 contest that saw SAGU advance to take on Northwestern in the night cap. After Northwestern jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, the Lions made a comeback and ultimately defeated NWC, sealing the Final Four teams with another one-game win.
In addition to this year’s field of teams playing on Saturday being the tournament’s top four seeds, a new champion will be crowned. With the exits of Cedarville and Palm Beach Atlantic, none of the four teams involved in the 2006 semifinal round will be back in the running for 2007.

Saturday’s action kicks off at 12 Noon with simultaneous semifinal matches, followed by the grand finale at 3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, DEC. 1
12 P.M.
Semifinal Matches
#1 Indiana Wesleyan vs. #3 The Master’s (Calif.)
#2 Bethel (Ind.) vs. #4 Southwest Assemblies of God (Texas)

3:30 P.M.
Championship Match