Yotes to Open NAIA Tournament Play vs. Doane
SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- For the second-straight season, The College of Idaho volleyball team has earned a berth to the NAIA National Championships, presented by the Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation, in Sioux City, Iowa. The Lady Yotes are one of 12 automatic qualifiers to the Final Site on the Missouri River, joined by 12 other teams who won Opening Round matches Nov. 21. The C of I was grouped in Pool E – playing a trio of evening matches Tuesday-Thursday to determine the 12 teams which will comprise Bracket Play for the National Championship.
COMING UP: at NAIA National Championshps, Sioux City, Iowa – Tuesday vs. No. 18 Doane (Neb.), 8:30 p.m. (CT); Wednesday vs. No. 21 Lewis-Clark State, 5:45 p.m. (CT); Thursday vs. No. 5 Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 5:45 p.m. (CT); Friday-Saturday – Bracket Play.
LIVE VIDEO / INTERNET BROADCASTS / STATS: If the Lady Yotes reach bracket play, all matches will have streaming Live Video via the NAIA site at www.watchnaia.com. There is a chance that some of the Pool Play matches will have Live Audio or Live Stats (via the Yotes opponents), with those links posted to The C of I’s athletic website www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete as soon as they become available.
HISTORY AT NATIONALS: It marks the fifth time in school history that the Lady Yotes have advanced to the National Championships – all this decade. The C of I made their first trip in 2000, going 1-3 in Pool Play. They would return in 2005, tying for ninth with a 2-2 record in Pool Play. A year later, the Coyotes had their best run, going 2-1 in Pool Play, eventually losing a bracket-play play-in match to Columbia (Mo.). Last season, the squad had some tough luck in the Siouxland, going 0-3 – although two of the three losses were in five sets, the other in four sets. Overall, the Lady Yotes have a 6-10 record at the National Tournament.
SEEDED FOR THE SECOND TIME: The No. 8 seed for The C of I is the second time in program history that the Lady Yotes are among the seeded teams at the National Tournament. During the 2006 season, The C of I was the No. 7 seed heading into the tournament. OPENING ROUND RECAP: Of the 12 matches played on Saturday, eleven of the host teams picked up victories – with the lone upset happening in the Northwest, as No. 21 Lewis-Clark State defeated No. 13 Southern Oregon in five sets. Six teams (Olivet Nazarene, Point Loma Nazarene, Taylor, Bellevue, Lubbock Christian, and Shawnee State) all won their matches in three sets, four teams (Indiana Tech, Doane, Mobile, and Lee) were pushed to four sets, while Lewis-Clark State and St. Ambrose each won in five sets.
SURVEYING THE POOLS: The six pools (designated A through F) were determined by the final seeding prior to the Opening Round, with teams 1-12-13-24 in Pool A, 2-11-14-23 in Pool B, 3-10-15-22 in Pool C, 4-9-16-21 in Pool D, 5-8-17-20 in Pool E, and 6-7-18-19 in Pool F. The four highest-seeded teams that win their respective pool will earn an automatic spot in Bracket Play, while the remaining first or second-place teams in their pools will meet in four play-in matches to fill out the national quarterfinal field.
ABOUT DOANE: The Lady Yotes will open tournament play following the Parade of Champions on Tuesday night against Doane College of Crete, Neb. The Tigers (29-7) are the runner-up in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and are making their second-straight and eighth overall trip to the NAIA Championships. Doane has won eight of their last nine matches – thanks to the solid play of outside hitter Jessy Livers (3.10 k/s, 2.78 d/s, 33 aces), middle blocker Susan Rollman (2.45 k/s, 1.31 b/s), and opposite Ivie Speer (2.50 k/s, 0.62 b/s). Setter Heather Davison (6.12 a/s, 2.03 d/s, 49 aces) is very good, as is the Tigers libero, Emily Schwisow (4.89 d/s). It is the first meeting between the teams and just the second meeting between the Yotes and a GPAC club – The C of I topped Mount Marty (S.D.) in three sets last season at the Seaside Invitational.
ABOUT LEWIS-CLARK STATE: Though the two rivals are just 270 miles apart, they will each travel nearly 2,000 miles for their 20th all-time meeting, as the Coyotes have been paired with Lewis-Clark State in Pool E. The No. 21 Warriors (24-7) finished the regular season in a tie for the Frontier Conference title, then battled through a pair of five-set matches in the Frontier Conference Tournament to earn their way to Nationals. Outside hitter Anile Clemente (3.02 k/s, 3.44 d/s, 61 aces) is a load to handle, while being complemented by Lauryn Herrick (2.02 k/s, 1.20 d/s, 45 aces) and Dani Barrett (1.82 k/s, 0.92 b/s). Setter Lisa Davis (4.74 a/s, 1.48 d/s, 35 aces) is one of three players to have been used in their 6-2 attack, while libero Katie Hinrichs (4.21 d/s, 38 aces) is a great passer. The Yotes defeated the Warriors in a hard-fought five-set match in August, but L-C holds a 11-8 all-time series edge.
ABOUT AZUSA PACIFIC: The Coyotes will close out their round-robin action on Thursday against Azusa Pacific, the third-place team from the highly-competitive Golden State Athletic Conference. The Cougars (24-8) are making their eighth National Tournament appearance, having won the 1980 championship. APU is led by GSAC Player of the Year, Jill Baker (4.43 k/s, 3.32 d/s, 0.69 b/s), a 6-2 outside hitter. She is helped by hitter Marguerite Hanna (2.60 k/s, 1.47 d/s), blocker Amy Aleazin (2.05 k/s, 1.11 b/s), and opposite Whittany Radcliffe (2.03 k/s, 0.54 b/s). Setter Rachael Jones (6.31 a/s, 1.61 d/s, 31 aces) and libero Robin Portella (3.92 d/s) are among the regulars. It is the second all-time meeting between the teams, as APU defeated the Yotes back in 1995.
WIDE OPEN POOL: If there ever was a more wide open grouping of four teams – it would be the Yotes Pool E. Both Doane and Lewis-Clark State have defeated Azusa Pacific, while the Lady Yotes have defeated Lewis-Clark State
LADY YOTES FINISH NO. 8 IN FINAL NAIA POLL: The C of I remained at No. 8 in the final NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll, released Nov. 10 by the national office in Kansas City, Mo. It marks the fifth-straight week that the Lady Yotes have been ranked at No. 8 - earning 519 voter points, 18 fewer points than they received a week ago. It is the 44th time that The C of I has been ranked in the Top-25 and the 55th-straight week that the team has received votes in the poll. Fresno Pacific (Calif.) remained the No. 1 team in the nation, while Cal Baptist regained the No. 2 slot after sharing the spot last week with No. 3 Northwestern (Iowa). Concordia (Calif.) is fourth, followed by Azusa Pacific (Calif.), Georgetown (Ky.), Columbia (Mo.), the Lady Yotes, University of Texas-Brownsville, and Biola (Calif.). Southern Oregon fell one spot to No. 13 in the poll, with Lewis-Clark State at No. 21. Two other opponents – Great Falls and Eastern Oregon, both received votes.
WIN STREAK: The Lady Yotes will take an 11-game win streak into the National Tournament, having won 24 of their last 25 matches. It marks the fifth-straight season that The C of I has won 24 or more matches in a year and the second time that the Lady Yotes have headed to Nationals with just two losses on the season (the 2006 team ended the year with a school-record 35-4 mark).
HOME STREAK SAFE UNTIL 2010: With wins in their final two CCC matches, the Lady Yotes completed their fourth-straight perfect season in conference play at home, pushing their home CCC streak to 44-matches in a row. The squad has not lost a league tilt at home since September of 2005, recording an undefeated mark at home each of the last three seasons (9-0 in 2006 and 2009 and 10-0 in both 2007 and 2008). Overall, the Yotes have won 61 of their last 62 home matches – and have an all-time record of 152-37 in the facility, including a 100-13 record in the Activities Center under head coach Liz Mendiola.
CCC LEADERS: As a team, the Yotes lead the CCC in kills per set (13.34), assists per set (12.30), blocks per set (2.53), digs per set (16.74), and opponents hitting percentage (.064), while ranking second in the loop in hitting percentage (.243). Individually, eight different players are in the Top-10 in the CCC, led by Marcella Hernandez, who is third in both blocks (1.12) and aces (0.45) per set, and sixth in hitting percentage (.272). Kristin Henning (Boise, Idaho / Boise HS) is second in both hitting percentage (.331) and blocks (1.19), Jessie Link is eighth in blocks (0.81) and tenth in hitting percentage (.251), and Naomi Reimer is eighth in aces (0.37) and tenth in assists (5.20). Rounding out the group are Ciciley Fox (Challis, Idaho / Challis HS), who is seventh in hitting percentage (.268), Kathryn Ely (La Grande, Ore. / La Grande HS), who is eighth in kills per set (2.71), and Whitney Owen, who leads the loop in digs per set (5.64).
RECORD BOOK: Four players currently are in the Top-10 in the Coyote career record book. Leading the way is Kristin Henning, who is No. 2 all-time with 490 blocks and No. 9 in kills (965), while Kathryn Ely ranks third all-time in kills (1,375). Rounding out the list are the two setters, as Madie Machurek is No. 5 in assists (1,836) and Naomi Reimer is No. 7 in assists (1,384) and in aces (113). Machurek also sits just outside the group in aces (108), Marcella Hernandez is just outside the Top-10 in blocks (217), and Whitney Owen is nearing the Top-10 in digs (947).