KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The No. 3 Seed Dallas Christian College fell 3-1 to the No. 6 Seed Pensacola Christian College on Thursday afternoon to begin Pool Play in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II Volleyball Tournament.
 
DCC struck first with a 25-16 victory, but then would fall in the next three sets including the final pair by two points. Pensacola held slight edges in most of the categories, but held a significant edge in service aces, 8-1.
 
Lauren Baker led all players with 18 kills and hit .288 after making just three errors in 52 total attacks. Maya Harrington notched a season-high 10 kills and was the other DCC player in double-digits for kills. Christen Downey followed with nine kills. Kelly Graves tallied 23 assists, while Hannah Gallegos made 19. Setters Graves and Gallegos respectively claimed 12 and 11 digs to wrap up the double-digit contributors to the team's 90. Caitlyn Yablon added four assists and led the team with 23 digs. Raezellejace Leano made her freshman NCCAA National Tournament debut with 16 digs. Classmate Autumn Allmon had four blocks, including three solo blocks, to make a nice first impression in the national tournament as well.
 
15 players appeared on the court for the Crusaders, including freshmen: Olivia Withers, Madelyn Guerrero, Taylor Gary, and McKenna Ramsey.
 
Things looked great in the early going for DCC as Leano got on serve after an error for the higher seed up 1-0. Four straight points lifted the Crusaders to a 5-0 lead and they never trailed. Eventually the gap widened to as much as eight at 21-13 and then nine at 24-15. The final spread would be nine points at 25-16. Both sides had nine kills, but Pensacola committed 13 hitting errors compared to DCC's five. That was the only frame either team recorded single-digit kills, but was the only time the Lady Eagles went into double figures on miscues.
 
In the second set, the Crusaders kept even and had a 7-6 lead for the lone time they were up in the set. Trailing by no more than two through the first 18 serves, DCC allowed the gap to reach five at 16-11. DCC pulled to within a pair at 21-19, thanks to hitting errors by the Lady Eagles. Four of the final five points went PCC's way to level the sets with a 25-20 final.
 
The pivotal set saw the score tied 13 times and leads change sides seven times. The largest margin by either team was three points until DCC surged with five points in a row to go up 24-20. Downey and Elizabeth Morrow had the go-ahead point with a block assist. Graves made it a two-point game with a kill and Downey followed a Pensacola Christian timeout with a kill of her own. A hitting error made it set-point, but PCC's Brittney Hunter scored a kill to keep things alive. Consecutive errors knotted the score at 24. Harrington put down a kill to make it 25-24, but the Lady Eagles answered with five of the last seven points for a 29-27 win. Baker and Downey had made kills for the Crusaders to try and keep things alive with tied scores at 26 and 27. The last eight points had been determined with successful kills by one of the teams.
 
The Crusaders leaped out to a 9-3 advantage with seven kills by five different players to try and stay alive in the tournament opener for themselves. Morrow, Graves, Ramsey, Baker (2), and Downey (2) all had kills. The Lady Eagles used an 8-0 run to turn the tide and grab a 15-11 lead. Downey stopped the bleeding with a kill and the Crusaders countered with five consecutive points to go up 17-16. Ramsey had to tying kill, while Downey put her team up a final time in the game. PCC put together the next string of points to go up 21-17 that had been capped with a service ace and block assist on the last two points. Baker responded with two kills in a row and Allmon had a solo block after a PCC point to keep the game at a two-point hole (22-20). Baker and Morrow knocked back-to-back kills after a PCC point to make it 23-22, but Jade Halverson created game-point with a kill. Allmon came up with a huge block to stop the attack and make it 24-23. Yablon, who is one DCC's top servers would start the next crucial play but Halverson had the final hit and it was consecutive two-point finals in the set scores.
 
The Crusaders moved to 18-12 overall and dropped two straight games for the first time since falling at Paul Quinn College and University of Dallas on October 19 and 22. That streak had become three eventually and was the only time this year they had fallen more than one time in a row. DCC won six straight after that slide.
 
Pensacola Christian improved to 14-15 and the winners of the South Region claimed a win in its lone game of Pool Play that day.
 
The No. 2 Seed Manhattan Christian College was the other matchup in Pool B that day with a straight set sweep over No. 7 Seed Johnson University Florida.
 
Dallas Christina will look to rebound on Friday with a pair of matches, first with the host team Johnson University Florida. That game is slated to start at 10:15 a.m. (CST). DCC will also play Manhattan Christian at 1:45 p.m. (CST).
 
Get the details on the DII Women's Volleyball National Championship Page
 
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