KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Dallas Christian College volleyball team begins the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II Tournament this afternoon. The Crusaders earned the number three seed in their second appearance in a row, as the two-time Southwest Region Champion seeks another bid at the program's first National Title.
In 2020, the Crusaders sliced through the National Tournament, including a thrilling semifinals match that went five sets over regional rival Randall University. The Crusaders are 11-3 in postseason tournament matches in the past two years. Both losses in 2020 were in the tournament to host and top-seeded Bob Jones University. The Crusaders answered a 2-0 deficit in sets to force a fifth. This included being down to the match-point against Bob Jones, but the Crusaders rallied to a stunned crowd and positioned themselves for a comeback win. It was not meant to be though, as the Bruins stormed back and would win 17-15 and claim their third straight National Championship.
View DII Women's Volleyball National Championship Page
Several returners are back from that moment entered this season with one goal in mind. Additional members have joined the DCC family, including a few freshman that are part of the regular rotation and have been crucial to the journey.
Most importantly, this is Crusader Family fights for each other and have expressed their love for the team and Christ and will leave it on the court November 18-20.
STORY LINES! (Stats are from official NCCAA Website)
- DCC enters with a 17-11 record and has gone 13-4 against NCCAA Division II Volleyball Opponents and 14-4 against schools that are in the Southwest Region. Two of the losses were to the No. 2 Seed Manhattan Christian College.
- DCC ranks 5th in the Top 10 NCCAA DII Power Rankings and held a ranking as high as fourth this year.
- Lauren Baker ranks fourth in the NCCAA DII in kills with 273. Her kills total and average (2.81) are best on the team.
- Caitlyn Yablon sits top five in the nation with 487 digs.
- Baker and Yablon were named Southwest All-Region Team. Christen Downey was Second Team.
- Downey is second on the team with 211 kills and is hitting a team-best .271 percent.
- Elizabeth Morrow rounds out the top trio in kills with 178. She had a monster Regional with 38 kills over three matches, including tying a career-high 18 kills in the championship. She nailed the winning points in the fourth and fifth sets.
- Cameron Del Angel rounds out a quartet of Crusaders with 122 kills.
- Hannah Gallegos and Kelly Graves form a strong tandem of setters with 382 and 301, respectively.
- Six Crusaders have notched double figures in service aces led by Yablon with 32. Olivia Withers also eclipsed 30, while Rae Leano (27), Gallegos (22), Graves (19), and Downey (15) are also in this group.
- Head Coach Tyese Little attended DCC and graduated in 2010. She earned the 2020 AVCA Diversity Award and guided her alma mater to back-to-back Southwest Regional Championships and to the programs first National Championship Match in 2020. The Crusaders dropped a heartbreaker, 17-15 to host Bob Jones University. They had trailed 2-0 in the sets and battled back to force a deciding frame with a 26-24 win in the fourth frame.
- DCC returns Maya Harrington, Graves, Downey, Annarose Collins, Yablon, Morrow, Baker, Del Angle, Keeley Price, and Gallegos from that team. Nine of these players appeared in all five sets of the Championship Game.
- DCC is tied with Maranatha Baptist University for second with a .178 hitting percentage. Only Manhattan Christian is higher at a .200-clip.
- The Crusaders 10.61 kills-per-set are third. The team eclipsed 1,000 at the ACCA Tournament and is now fifth in the nation with 1,050.
- The Crusaders 1,638 are 8th overall and 16.55 digs-per-set are sixth.
