April 18, 2008

PARKVILLE, Mo. - Championships were made for stories like this.

No. 1 vs. No. 2. Goliath vs. Goliath. You name it, the storyline's there in Saturday's title match between Park and California Baptist at 7 p.m. inside Breckon Sports Center.

The Pirates moved on by way of a 3-0 win over St. Ambrose, who earlier in the day beat out powerhouse Lindenwood in a five-game thriller.

California Baptist knocked off Cardinal Stritch, who also overcame adversity, winning in the final pool match of the day despite losing the first game of the tournament's sixth match.

St. Ambrose Sends Home Lindenwood in Pool Play Quarterfinal
St. Ambrose (Iowa) University made school history with a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Lindenwood (Mo.) University in Day 2 of Pool Play at the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Invitational Tournament. The Bees won its first National Invitational contest thanks to endurance victories in Games 4 and 5. Overall, the scores were 23-30, 30-25, 24-30, 35-33 and 19-17 at the Breckon Sports Center.

"My guys have been warriors all season," said St. Ambrose head coach Bill Gleeson, whose squad was 0-5 in National Invitational play coming into the match. "All 17 guys stuck together and always thought that we were going to win. Lindenwood came to play today. They were playing great defense and we never got into a rhythm early on."

St. Ambrose, who denies Lindenwood its ninth straight trip to the Semifinals, will take on host-school Park (Mo.) University, in the first match of the Semifinals at 4:30 p.m. CST later today. Park swept both Missouri Baptist University and Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) University yesterday (Thursday).

"We are a young team with just one senior," said Gleeson. "Last year, we got to the Tournament and we were happy to get here. This time, we wanted to get here and win. We have broken all sorts of records this year and just want to keep that going."

Junior Mike Westendorf led St. Ambrose with 20 kills, 12 blocks and a .351 hitting percentage. Junior Bill Kramer posted a game-high 63 assists and added 10 digs.

Trailing 3-2 in the early going of Game 1, Lindenwood took control with five straight points and grab a 7-3 lead. Byron Ferguson sent home a kill and finished that run with a block assist. LU's lead did not drop below three points during the rest of the game as the Lions held SAU to a 17.1 (12-6-35) hitting percentage clip.

Lindenwood's Jared Kreienkamp led all hitters with six kills in Game 1.

After falling down 2-0 in Game 2, St. Ambrose responded with an 8-0 run to take control. Mestendorf had a hand in five of the Bees points during that spurt. Lindenwood battled back to within one point at 17-16 after a Joe Deimeke kill. However, the Bees countered by scoring eight of the game's next 11 points and hold a 25-19 edge at that point.

Lindenwood trimmed the deficit to two points, the 11th and final time of doing so, at 27-25. But, SAU closed out the game with three straight scores to take Game 2.

With a total of 11 ties or lead changes, Game 3 proved to be a tight one. Neither team led by more than three points until Lindenwood took advantage of a 9-3 run and secure a 16-11 lead. St. Ambrose came to within a two-point margin twice after that, the final time coming at 19-17. Sparked by a kill and two block assists from Dan Laure, the Lions opened up their margin to 25-19 and took home a 30-24 win.

In the marathon game of the match, Lindenwood seemed headed to the win after a Kreienkamp kill, one of his eight in the game. After a St. Ambrose attack error, LU led 22-17 in Game 4. However, a Mestendorf kill notched the score at 26-26. St. Ambrose pulled out the victory with the game's three final points.

In the deciding fifth game, St. Ambrose made its comeback complete starting with 5-1 run midway through the game. At that point, SAU was up by one at 11-10. From there, both teams played to the tune of 15 ties or lead changes. Joe Bara wrapped up SAU's first National Invitational win with a kill.

Kreienkamp of Lindenwood led all players with 27 kills to go along with a .435 hitting mark. Senior Brad Skendzel posted 59 assists and had 11 digs.

Lindenwood ends its season at 25-7 overall. St. Ambrose improves to 28-9 and will face a Park team that holds a 27-1 record.

Cardinal Stritch Fights off Missouri Baptist to Advance
Despite losing the first game, Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) University was victorious by a score of 3-1 against Missouri Baptist University in Day 2 of Pool Play at the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Invitational Tournament. The Wolves of Cardinal Stritch won by scores of 23-30, 30-21, 30-24, 30-17 at the Breckon Sports Center on the campus of Park (Mo.) University.

"We felt like we were the better team," said Cardinal Stritch head coach Eric Poppelman. "We stubbed our toe last night (in loss to Park). This was for all the marbles."

Cardinal Stritch (23-9), who wins its first National Invitational match in its fourth attempt, advances to play defending national champion California Baptist in the second match of the Semifinals at 7:00 p.m. CST today (Friday). Cal Baptist took down Lindenwood and St. Ambrose in yesterday's pool play.

Poppelman feels tonight's Semifinal match will be a good test for his team.

"California Baptist has won four straight national championships," said Poppelman. "We would love to beat a team like that. We are looking forward to it and having a great match."

Four Cardinal Stritch players landed in double-digit kills led by sophomore Matt Tauaese and senior Cristiano Mattia with 11 apiece. Senior Stefan Stefanovic piled up a game-high 43 assists and chipped in eight blocks and five digs.

As a team, the Wolves posted 18.5 blocks and held Missouri Baptist to a .105 hitting mark (47-33-133).

In Game 1, the Spartans of Missouri Baptist never trailed. The game was close in the beginning as MBU led by only one point at 15-14. Matt Mahoney got hot for the Spartans putting down one of his eight kills in the game to help his team take a 22-16 edge. From that point on, MBU never led by fewer than five points, and closed out the game on a Matt Washechek kill.

Evening the match up at 1-1, Cardinal Stritch took a quick 6-1 advantage thanks to four different players notching a kill. Missouri Baptist came back to take an 8-7 lead on a Mahoney service ace, one of his two for the match. Slowly creeping out to a 21-16 advantage after that, CSU held on behind a strong hitting attack (.343).

Behind the strength of a 43 percent attack mark (16-3-30), Cardinal Stritch took Game 3. After a combined 11 ties and lead changes, Matt Tauese of CSU sparked a 5-1 run to gain its largest margin up to that point, 18-13. Mo Baptist closed the deficit to two points on four occasions, with the last at 23-21 after a Garrett Callender kill. But, Cardinal Stritch held on and never let MBU get back into the game.

The Wolves never trailed in the match-deciding fourth game. They fired out to a 15-7 lead and expanded that to 12 points at 25-13. Mirko Jankovic played a pivotal role in the game totaling four of his 10 kills, including two of the game's final three points.

MBU concludes its season at 18-10. Mahoney led all players with 23 kills but hit just .190 (23-12-58). No other Spartan had more than six kills. Washechek contributed 34 assists and 11 digs.

Park Makes Quick Work of St. Ambrose in Semifinal
Park University continued on its quest for a national title and got one step closer with a semifinal sweep over No. four seed St. Ambrose. The Pirates remain undefeated over St. Ambrose with 30-23, 30-23 and 30-27 wins.

The Pirates had three players finish in the top ten for kills, with Henry Uribe leading all players with 18 kills. Ryan Stafford recorded 12 kills while Erick Albuquerque added 11. Senior setter J.P. da Silva recorded 49 assists and Albuquerque led all players with nine digs.

The Pirates dominated early on in game one, scoring three quick points with kills from Henry Uribe and Caio Maciel. St. Ambrose tied the game at 3-3 off of an attacking error by Albuquerque. Park earned three straight points with back-to-back kills and a Joe Bara service error for a 9-4 lead.

The next ten points resulted in a back-and-forth battle. Bara would get the Bees back within four, but Park would keep racking on points, one at a time.

Park gained an eight point advantage following a Stafford and Maciel block, taking a 15-7 lead. The Bees retaliated with a kill from Mike Mestendorf. The Pirates held a steady six point lead through the next five rallies.

Park held a 23-15 lead and it appeared to be smooth sailing to getting one step closer to the championship match, but if there's one thing St. Ambrose has proven, it's that they never give up until the last point is awarded. The Bees went on a six-point run to get back within five (25-20) and force head coach Cory Frederick to take a timeout. The Pirates refocused their energies and got back on track towards their game one victory with an Albuquerque kill for game point.

J.P. da Silva and Ryan Stafford would connect for the final point, for a 30-23 win over St. Ambrose.

Game two of the semifinal match started off close, with the two teams tied at 2-2. A Stafford kill, followed by an Uribe kill and service ace would give the Pirates a 5-3 lead. A long rally earned St. Ambrose their fourth point of the game, sealed with a Bara kill off an assist from Kyle Warrenfeltz to cut Park's lead to 6-4.

Back-to-back Bee errors gave the Pirates two more points and an 8-4 lead. An Uribe kill off a da Silva set kept Park ahead at 11-9.

Uribe continued the Pirate surge from the left side with three kills in a row and extended Park's lead to 15-9, forcing St. Ambrose head coach Bill Gleeson to take a timeout and regroup his team.

Bill Kramer set teammates Rob Brannigan and Zak Krumlinde for two easy points and got within eight, 22-14. A Stafford kill and service ace didn't keep the Bees down for long, as Krumlinde answered back with a hard hit to the wood floor. On the next play, a St. Ambrose brick wall composed of Kramer and Mestendorf would silence the Pirates for the point.

The Pirates got to 26-19 on back on Uribe, with two more big hits.

St. Ambrose cut the lead once again to 26-21, after a Park attack error and a block assist from Brannigan and Bara in back to back plays.

The Pirates got to game point on a Bee service error and a game defining kill by Dragomir Katanic put Park up 2-0 in the series.

St. Ambrose kicked off game three with a big time block from Mestendorf, to score the first point. But Uribe carried momentum in from game two, answering with a kill and a da Silva service ace would give Park the 2-1 edge. The next three points kept the two teams neck in neck with both teams giving up little and playing long rallies.

Park took a 9-6 lead following a Stafford kill from the right back and a da Silva kill on a set dump.

The Bees got back within two (12-10) on a Scott Manthei kill and St. Ambrose kept fighting their way back, resulting in four tied up moments and one short lived lead change.

Park's sights on the final birth seemed to be set on a Stafford kill for a 28-24 lead, but the Bees were all about surprises this national tournament. St. Ambrose rallied back to score three unanswered points to get within one at 28-27.

It appeared as though their luck had finally run out though, a Bee attacking error lead to game point for Park and a commanding Uribe service ace would send Park to the final match.

Frederick was counting on this semifinal to be a tough test for his team and was pleased with the end result. "St. Ambrose is the best team I've seen at the tournament in terms of the way the play together," said Frederick. "They never give up and that's one thing we didn't want to affect us. We just wanted to get the lead and maintain it."

It has been an exciting national tournament for Park so far, with 101 career wins for coach Frederick and the senior class, and now they are just looking to achieve their final goal. "I expect my players to just play the same as they've been playing all tournament," said Frederick. "The one thing we want is to not play up and down and just play on a level field."

The Pirates will host California Baptist on Saturday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. for the crowning of the 2008 Men's NAIA National Volleyball Tournament champion.

Cal Baptist Sets Title Bout With Park
There's no place like home and while California Baptist is over a 1,000 miles from Riverside, Calif., the championship game of NAIA Men's Volleyball National Invitational feels like home for the Lancers.

Led by Donald Baliaba and Adiel Tiedjop, who combined for 32 kills, the Lancers (15-11) move into their fifth straight title game after defeating No. 3 Cardinal Stritch 3-0 (30-21, 30-25, 30-19).

"It was great to win in three and we needed to do that," said CBU head coach Ryan McGuyre. "We were nice and fresh tonight. Our serves have been coming around and we have some great guys on the floor."

Tiedjop ripped a match-high 17 kills while Baliaba added 15 as both Lancers hit over .300. Baliaba also just missed a double-double with eight digs. Corey Spence just missed double figures in digs with nine. Eric Plunkett dished out a match-high 42 assists while Blair Penner led the Lancers in blocks with five. Yukai Sun also provided some offense off the bench with six kills.

"I was pleased with the effort tonight and the camaraderie on the team has really kept us going," said McGuyre. "I think our bench pushed us through the match last night and tonight. They kept us alive several times in the match. We did a great job siding out tonight. We just needed to play a little defense to pull away from them."

In the opener, the Lancers ripped a .394 clip (15-2-33) as Baliaba and Tiedjop combined for 11 kills. CBU traded four leads early in the game and took control after Baliaba broke the 11th and final tie of the game, at 12-12, with a kill. Vetter and Rich Parris closed out the game as Vetter ripped his second kill of the match and Parris served up an aced to give the Lancers a 1-0 match lead.

Tiedjop ripped seven kills and Penner posted a pair of blocks in game two as the Lancers held the Wolves to a .167 clip. Later in the game the Lancers led 17-13 after a Tiedjop kill, but Cardinal Stritch used a 4-0 run to tie it at 17. The Lancers retook the lead after a Tiedjop kill and held that lead until the Wolves tied the game at 25. CBU responded scoring the next five points including a kill by Baliaba to close out the game.

In the final game, the Lancers had no problem pulling away with the win. CBU outscored Cardinal Stritch 15-7 down the stretch to seal the win.

The Lancers outhit the Wolves .320-.120 and posted eight blocks to Cardinal Stritch's six.

California Baptist will now play Park in the championship game, Saturday, at 7 p.m. inside the Breckon Sports Center. Last year it was the Lancers who defeated Park 3-0 in the title game inside Van Dyne Gym. For Park it will be the second straight title appearance and third appearance overall in the title game and it will be the eighth appearance overall for the Lancers.

"Hopefully it turns into a slugfest tomorrow," said McGuyre. "The things that are the most challenging are also the most rewarding. This will definitely be the most difficult final that we have faced since I've been here and that makes it fun. This is the time when you get to see the underclassmen step up and battle and see the best effort from everyone. This will be a battle tomorrow."