Volleyball captures third place at USCAA National Championship

The University of Dallas volleyball team travelled to Louisville, Ky., this past weekend to compete in the US Small College Athletic Association (USCAA) volleyball championships.  The USCAA is an association of 62 small colleges from across the nation, including teams both the NCAA and NAIA and other affiliations.

The Championship Tournament brings together the ten top USCAA teams to determine the USCAA national champion. UD went into the tournament ranked No. 3 behind last years' champion, Florida College and 2009 runner-up, Spalding University.

UD started the tournament off by facing Florida College in the first match of pool play. Motivated to defend their championship, Florida came out on fire and quickly won the first set 25-14. The second set of the best-of-three match was close until the very end. Holding a narrow 21-20 lead, Florida earned a sideout and from there was able to close out the set 25-21, for the match victory.

UD rebounded to win the remaining three matches in pool play, defeating Marygrove College, PSU-Mont Alto and Univ of Cincinnati-Clermont. UD then faced PSU-Fayette in the quarter-finals, the Crusaders winning in three sets.

In the semi-finals, UD faced Spalding University, the top team in the St. Louis Independent Athletic Conference (SLIAC), which is NCAA D-III. Dallas quickly dropped the first set, 11-15, before rebounding to win the second, 28-26. The third was close throughout, but Spalding was able to forge out a 25-21 win before closing out the match in the fourth, 25-17.

UD would have to shake off the disappointing loss quickly as the Crusaders had to face Rochester College (Mich.) in the third place match. Rochester, seeking to improve on their 2009 finish, came out strong and won the first set easily, 25-13. However, UD quickly rebounded in set two, gaining the momentum and the win, 25-16. Set three was all UD, 25-11.

Desperate to extend the match, Rochester came out strong in the fourth set, keeping the game close throughout. UD was able to knock down a couple winners as the set went into overtime, taking the game 26-24 and the match. The win gave UD a 5-2 record in the tournament, good enough for a third place finish in the tournament.

Junior right-side player Danielle Fuchs (St. Charles, Mo./Duchesne H.S.) was the Crusaders' top offensive player, averaging 4.11 kills/set while hitting a lofty .308. For her performance, Danielle was selected to the Championship All-Tournament team. Senior captain Kelli Fuentes Rowlett, Texas/Rowlett H.S.), playing her last games in UD blue, led the team's backcourt play all weekend, as she has done all season. Sophomore setter Amanda Kitten (Slaton, Texas/Lubbock-Cooper), sophomore outside-hitter Theresa Wohldmann (Florissant, Mo./Nerinx Hall H.S.) and junior middle Liz Baska (Tonganoxie, Kan./Tonganoxie H.S.) also turned in strong performances throughout the tournament.

The tournament marks the end of the 2010 season for UD Volleyball. Record wise, the team finished 26-11,, an all-time high for UD volleyball.