Dallas Volleyball Wins NEAC Tournament, Advances to NCAAs!

The University of Dallas Volleyball team knows how to finish strong. In their first Sunday match of the North Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, the Crusaders overwhelmed Penn State Harrisburg in three games; 25-18, 25-11, and 25-20. UD continued their winning ways into the tournament final by blowing by SUNY-IT in dominating fashion. The scores were 25-12, 25-13, 25-23 and the win pushed their record to 19-19 on the year. The victory also gave the Dallas volleyball program the NEAC crown, and will give the team their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

In their first match of the pivotal day, several Crusaders made their presence known. Junior middle blocker Celina Farrell (Corinth, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.) and freshman outside hitter Theresa Wohldmann (Florissant, MO/Nerinx Hall H.S.) both registered 13 kills. Farrell's 13 kills came on 18 attempts for a .667 attack percentage to along with 1 block assist and a service ace, while Wohldmann chipped in 11 digs and 2 aces. Sophomore rightside Danielle Fuchs (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne H.S.) registered 11 kills and 3 aces, while freshman setter Rebecka Ortega (El Paso, TX/Silva Health Magnet) lead the team with 4 service aces. Leading the squad in assists was freshman setter Amanda Kitten (Slaton, TX/Lubbock-Cooper) who recorded 37.

In the afternoon's second match and championship victory over SUNY-IT, UD rolled behind a balanced offensive and defensive attack. Farrell led the team in kills with 11, and registered an outstanding attack percentage once again with a .562 clip. Fuchs and sophomore middle blocker Liz Baska (Tonganoxie, KS/Tonganoxie H.S.) finished the match with identical lines, as they each recorded 7 kills to go along with a team leading 2 aces. Kitten provided UD with 29 assists and Dallas cruised to the victory.

During the three day NEAC Tournament Dallas dominated their opponents. In all matches Dallas rolled in four games or less. In the first two matches of the tournament, UD won the affairs 3-1 before winning the final three games in three sets. The team finished with a 15-2 game record during the tournament, currently have an eight match winning streak, and wrapped up the regular season with a 19-19 record.