The Golden Bears took the match in straight sets, the 32nd time out of 37 season matches that CU won without giving up a set.  Freshman middle hitter Cassie Haag (Plymouth, Minn.) led the team with 13 kills and four blocks.  Maggie McNamara(S, Sr., Zumbrota, Minn.) added 38 assists to wrap up her four-time All-American career with an NCAA record 7,341 assists.  Senior Mary Slinger (L, Faribault, Minn.) completes her career as CU’s all-time digs leader with 2,349 digs, adding 20 to her career total in tonight’s Championship match.

West Texas A&M had a massive defensive effort that held the Golden Bears to their second lowest hitting average of the season, .174.  But Concordia countered with a defensive front that once again featured a tremendous blocking front.  CU got countless touches on the Lady Buff attacks and whenever a hit DID manage to get past the net, the Slinger-led defense stepped in to save the day.  West Texas was held to only 26 kills in the match with a .037 hitting average.  This was the first time the Lady Buffs were swept this season.

The Golden Bears had five players named to the 2009 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team, Maggie McNamara, Mary Slinger, Sadie Kessler, Emily Palkertand Megan Carlson.

–Courtesy CUSP Athletics

The Jennies will head into regional play ranked fourth in the latest AVCA D-II Coaches Poll, and are 32-4 after capturing their first MIAA championship since 2000, and first stand alone title since 1999. The 32 wins is the most for UCM since 1996.

–Courtesy UCM Athletics

Atlantic Region
Hosted by California University of Pennsylvania, California, Pennsylvania – November 19-21
No. 1 California (Pennsylvania) (32-4) vs. No. 8 Chowan (27-8)
No. 2 Lock Haven (31-5) vs. No. 7 Mercyhurst (18-11)
No. 3 Clarion (24-8) vs. No. 6 Edinboro (22-12)
No. 4 Gannon (22-9) vs. No. 5 Wheeling Jesuit (32-5)

Central Region
Hosted by Concordia University, St. Paul, St. Paul, Minnesota – November 19-21
No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (31-0) vs. No. 8 Colorado School of Mines (21-9)
No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State (25-7) vs. No. 7 Metropolitan State (24-6)
No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney (31-2) vs. No. 6 Minnesota Duluth (22-8)
No. 4 Wayne State Nebraska (28-7) vs. No. 5 Minnesota State Mankato (25-6)

East Region
Hosted by Dowling College, Oakdale, New York – November 19-21
No. 1 Dowling (26-6) vs. No. 8 Georgian Court (26-9)
No. 2 New Haven (24-5) vs. No. 7 Pace (17-11)
No. 3 Bridgeport (31-6) vs. No. 6 Massachusetts-Lowell (22-9)
No. 4 Adelphi (27-9) vs. No. 5 Bentley (17-12)

Midwest Region
Hosted by University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana – November 19-21
No. 1 Indianapolis (32-1) vs. No. 8 Michigan Tech (14-14)
No. 2 Lewis (27-4) vs. No. 7 Ferris State (18-11)
No. 3 Saginaw Valley State (21-9) vs. No. 6 Grand Valley State (16-12)
No. 4 Northern Michigan (18-11) vs. No. 5 Hillsdale (23-7)

South Region
Hosted by University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida – November 19-21
No. 1 Tampa (28-2) vs. No. 8 Albany State (Georgia) (20-7)
No. 2 Saint Leo (27-3) vs. No. 7 North Alabama (18-13)
No. 3 West Florida (19-12) vs. No. 6 Lynn (20-11)
No. 4 Eckerd (18-11) vs. Nova Southeastern (19-10)

South Central Region
Hosted by University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri – November 19-21
No. 1 Central Missouri (32-4) vs. No. 8 Dallas Baptist (20-16)
No. 2 Washburn (32-4) vs. No. 7 Nebraska-Omaha (20-13)
No. 3 West Texas A&M (31-3) vs. No. 6 Truman (24-12)
No. 4 Emporia State (29-5) vs. No. 5 Pittsburg State (24-10)

Southeast Region
Hosted by Wingate University, Wingate, North Carolina – November 20-22
No. 1 Wingate (34-1) vs. No. 8 Tusculum (17-14)
No. 2 Flagler (30-8) vs. No. 7 Lees-McRae (28-5)
No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic State (25-8) vs. No. 6 Lincoln Memorial (21-9)
No. 4 Carson-Newman (22-9) vs. No. 5 Catawba (17-11)

West Region
Hosted by California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California – November 19-21
No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino (28-1) vs. No. 8 Seattle Pacific (16-11)
No. 2 UC San Diego (28-2) vs. No. 7 San Francisco State (20-10)
No. 3 Sonoma State (22-7) vs. No. 6 Cal State L.A. (21-8)
No. 4 Hawaii Hilo (25-1) vs. No. 5 Alaska Anchorage (22-6)

FULL RELEASE

–Courtesy NCAA

“I guess it will sink in more in the next couple days,” says Catanach. “What it does tell me is the great players and assistant coaches I have had during my career.”

In front of a raucous crowd of 649 fans, UT came out strong in the first set to take a 25-12 win. The Spartans answered with 25-22 and 25-21 victories to give Catanach another historic milestone victory.

“It was fun to have a good crowd here and we had a great time,” states Catanach. “The band was awesome and we had some alumni and former players here. That really meant a lot to me.”

A pivotal second set proved to be the turning point for the Spartans as it broke a 21-21 tie with a 4-1 run to win the frame. After an eight minute intermission where the Homecoming king and queen were crowned, Tampa never trailed in the third to finish off the straight set win.

The trio of Melissa Vanderhall, Kaleigh Cunningham and Camille Hanks each led Tampa with 10 kills apiece while Hanks turned in an impressive .412 hitting percentage. Meghan Sherman added a team-high 37 assists to go with five kills. Sherman also sealed the match with the final kill as she found a hole in the back of the Lynn defense.

Julie Howlett helped hold the Fighting Knights to a .138 hitting percentage as the sophomore libero led the Spartans with 12 digs. Vanderhall and Hanks each tallied four blocks as two of Vanderhall’s were solo. Sherman chipped in three blocks while Danielle Selkridge added two off the bench.

Tampa finished the match with a .326 hitting percentage as a set one clip of .471 paved the way for the Spartans outhitting its opponent by nearly .200. Tampa also outdug Lynn by a 35-27 mark.

Second among active head coaches in NCAA Division II, Catanach ranks fourth all-time and now needs 28 victories to tie Debby Colberg (Sacramento State) for third on the NCAA II list.

–Courtesy Tampa Athletics

The Jennies (24-3, 10-1) out-hit UNO (17-6, 7-3) in the first game, .306 to .175. It was a closely played game with eight ties and five lead changes. UCM went on a 5-1 run to win the set 25-18, orchestrated by setter Caitlin Pankratz’s back-to-back kills and two assists.

Central spotted the Mavericks a 4-0 lead to begin the second set. Piontek’s squad committed only three attacking errors in the set, five fewer than the Mavericks. The Jens also managed five blocks compared to one for UNO. With the score 19-18 Jens, a Paula Harris kill would lead them to another late run (5-0) to win 25-18.

The next Jennies lead would not come until the first point of the fourth set. Defensively they allowed Nebraska-Omaha to hit .333 and .300 in the third and fourth sets respectively, also allowing a match-high 16 kills in each. Nebraska-Omaha would control the pace of the game until midway through the fourth set when the Jens tied the score 10-10. Despite the improved play, the Mavs tied the match 2-2.

The Jens attacked an efficient .348 while holding the lead through the entire deciding set. A crowd rousing solo block by Harris put the Jens up 10-6. Despite two UNO timeouts, UCM continued to score forcing the Mavericks to side-out each time they won the serve.

Huffman led the team in kills (19) on her way to her eighth double-double of the season adding 16 digs. Rachel Fister totaled 35 digs, leading the team, while Kelsey Ortwerth pitched in 14. Pankratz also had a double-double in assists (50), and digs (10). Fister also led the way with three service aces.

–Courtesy UCM Athletics

REGIONAL RANKINGS

FULL RANKINGS

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Grand Valley St. (24) 6-0 624 1
2 Abilene Christian 6-0 593 2
3 North Ala. (1) 6-0 577 3
4 Central Wash. 6-0 532 5
5 Bloomsburg 6-0 519 4
6 Northwest Mo. St. 5-1 501 6
7 Minn. St. Mankato 6-0 469 7
8 Minn. Duluth 5-1 453 8
9 Tex. A&M-Kingsville 6-0 438 9
10 Albany St. (Ga.) 5-0 391 10

FULL RANKINGS
REGIONAL RANKINGS

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Rank School Points Prev
1 Adams St. 25 1
2 Western St. 24 2
3 Cal St. Chico 23 4
4 Grand Valley St. 22 3
5 Queens (N.C.) 21 5
6 Abilene Christian 20 6
7 Colorado Mines 19 7
8 Western Wash. 18 8
9 Stonehill 17 9
10 Southern Ind. 16 11

FULL RANKINGS

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Rank School Points Prev
1 Cal St. Chico 25 3
2 Grand Valley St. 24 2
3 Mo. Southern St. 23 7
4 Adams St. 22 1
5 Alas. Anchorage 21 5
6 Shippensburg 20 4
7 Western Wash. 19 8
8 Tampa 18 9
9 Augustana (S.D.) 17 10
10 Mesa St. 16 15

FULL RANKINGS

FIELD HOCKEY

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Bloomsburg (14) 11-1 148 2
2 Shippensburg (1) 12-1 131 1
3 East Stroudsburg 11-2 106 3
4 Stonehill 10-2 99 6
5 Mass.-Lowell 10-2 83 4
6 Kutztown 7-5 71 5
7 Bentley 8-3 48 8
8 Mercyhurst 6-3 43 7
9 Merrimack 8-5 29 9
10 Millersville 6-6 21 10

REGIONAL RANKINGS

MEN’S SOCCER

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Cal St. L.A. 11-0-1 25 2
2 Lees-McRae 9-0-0 24 3
3 Tampa 6-0-1 23 4
4 Millersville 9-1-0 22 5
5 Southern N.H. 10-1-1 21 6
6 Drury 11-0-0 20 8
7 Sonoma St. 10-0-2 19 7
8 Fort Lewis 9-1-0 18 9
9 Truman 9-1-1 17 10
10 Slippery Rock 10-1-0 16 12

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-soccer/division_ii1.html
REGIONAL RANKINGS

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 West Fla. 11-0-0 25 2
2 St. Rose 11-0-0 24 3
3 Columbus St. 10-0-1 23 5
4 Grand Valley St. 10-0-2 22 4
5 Seattle Pacific 10-1-0 21 1
6 Metro St. 11-1-0 20 6
7 Carson-Newman 11-0-0 19 7
8 Rollins 8-1-1 18 8
9 West Chester 9-1-1 17 9
10 Midwestern St. 8-0-2 16 10

FULL RANKINGS
REGIONAL RANKINGS

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

1 Concordia-St. Paul (32) 19-0 800 1
2 Cal St. San B’dino 16-0 768 2
3 UC San Diego 16-1 721 3
4 Central Mo. 19-3 692 5
5 Neb.-Kearney 18-1 638 8
6 West Tex. A&M 18-3 615 6
7 Washburn 19-2 594 9
8 Emporia St. 17-2 579 6
9 Tampa 14-2 564 4
10 Minn. Duluth 14-3 506 10

FULL RANKINGS

A familiar foe follows Concordia University at second place in the poll: the Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino. Last year’s runner-up, CSUSB returns four starters and nine letterwinners as they aim to make another run to the title match. Fellow Northern Sun opponents receiving nods in the first poll of the year are Minnesota Duluth at 7th, Southwest Minnesota State at 8th, Augustana College at 22nd and Wayne State at 25th. With five teams ranked in the nation’s top 25, the NSIC will continue to be one of the most competitve leagues in Division II.

Concordia returns five of their seven starters to the 2009 campaign, headlined by the 2008 AVCA Division II Player of the Year, Maggie McNamara. McNamara has quarterbacked the Golden Bears to a 109-7 record during her first three seasons and has led the nation in assists each season. In addition to leading the CU offense, McNamara also works to secure the Golden Bear defense. In her career, she has 5,800 total assists and 1,034 digs. She is a three-time AVCA All-American with two NSIC Player of the Year honors and three All-Region accolades. McNamara is one of three returning All-Americans from the 2008 squad (Mary Slinger, Emily Palkert).

–Courtesy CSP Athletics

Preseason Bison/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll
(As of 08/20/2009)

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Concordia-St. Paul (32) 37-1 800 1
2 Cal St. San B’dino 30-4 760 2
3 Emporia St. 34-4 710 5
4 Grand Valley St. 33-4 692 3
5 West Tex. A&M 34-5 671 7
6 Neb.-Kearney 32-4 655 6
7 Minn. Duluth 26-9 572 9
8 Southwest Minn. St. 27-6 549 8
9 Truman 33-8 530 4
10 Tampa 27-5 511 10
11 Washburn 30-6 468 13
12 Central Mo. 29-10 442 11
13 UC San Diego 21-7 411 17
14 California (Pa.) 41-2 392 12
15 West Fla. 25-7 346 15
16 Fla. Southern 25-9 293 19
17 Pittsburg St. 28-8 269 16
18 Cal Poly Pomona 20-8 247 14
19 Nova Southeastern 24-12 213 20
20 Cal St. L.A. 21-8 187 18
21 Lewis 31-8 150 NR
22 Augustana (S.D.) 23-11 126 22
23 Western Wash. 21-3 106 21
24 Western Ore. 22-3 73 23
25 Wayne St. (Neb.) 23-10 56 25

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Minnesota State 39; Saginaw Valley State 25; Northern Kentucky 13; Dowling 11; Indianapolis 11; Sonoma State 10; Chico State 9; Wingate 9; Armstrong Atlantic State 6; Northern Michigan 2.
DROPPED OUT: No. 24 Saginaw Valley State.

Concordia University dropped the match-opening set but rebounded with an incredible defensive showing to go up two games to one. They held on in the fifth set, rallying from an 11-13 deficit to take the next four points and the national title. Junior rightside hitter Sadie Kessler put down the final kill to send the crowd of 1,537 into an uproar.

The teams had similarly aggressive offenses and played tight throughout the evening. The difference in the match came down to just a few errors made in the final points of the sets.

“It was an epic battle. It came down to a point here, a point there,” said Concordia head coach Brady Starkey. “I’m so proud of how hard this team fights. You can’t train that.”

FULL STORY

–Courtesy CSP Athletics

Eight eight-team regionals will be played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five game matches and will not include a third-place match. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the finals, December 4-6, on the campus of a participating institution. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination, best three-of-five game matches.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy NCAA.com