DALLAS, Texas – It was a nice start to the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) Volleyball Division II Southwest Regional on Thursday for the No. 3 Seed Dallas Christian College volleyball team. The Crusaders took care of the No. 6 Seed Barclay College in three sets to advance to the Semifinals Round against a familiar opponent, the No. 2 Seed Randall University.
DCC edged the Bears (13-9) in the first set with a 25-20 finish after the visitors rallied back to make it tight in the later stages. From there it as all Crusaders with 25-11 and 25-14 scores.
Lauren Baker paced the offense with 10 kills and made one service error on 25 total attacks for a .360 hitting percentage.
Christen Downey followed with seven kills and hit .583 while not committing a hitting error.
Elizabeth Morrow rounded out the top hitting trio with five kills. As a team, the Crusaders totaled 30 kills and eclipsed double figures in two of the three sets.
Hannah Gallegos and
Kelly Graves combined for 26 assists and were efficient in the 6-2 rotation with 14 and 12 assists, respectively.
Caitlyn Yablon tallied 14 digs, which Barclay actually edged DCC by one (42-41). The Crusaders made up for it with a strong block as Downey led with three and
Keeley Price had two.
A notable strength for the host school was 12 service aces. Yablon had four, while Graves chipped in three. Downey and
Raezellejace Leano added two apiece.
Barclay was not too bad itself on serves with nine aces. Lydia King had nine kills, and Cambrey Ballard posted 23 assists.
During the awards ceremony before this match was the announcement of the NCCAA DII Southwest All-Region Team. Baker and Yablon were selected to the First Team All-Region, while Downey got tabbed Second Team All-Region.
Complete All-Region Teams
Dallas Christian will play at 2 p.m. on Friday versus Randall University. The Saints entered ranked fourth in the Top-10 NCCAA Poll, while DCC was ranked fifth. However, the Crusaders won both meetings in the regular season and have won the past five matchups dating back to last season, including a semifinals victory in five sets.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Manhattan Christian College will take on the No. 4 Seed Arlington Baptist University at 12 p.m. The Championship Match will be at 5 p.m. between the winners. In 2020, it was DCC and Arlington Baptist at Arlington that matched up and the Crusaders captured the title and sparked its journey as the Runners-up at the NCCAA National Tournament weeks later.
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."
