April 3, 2009
Box Game 1 | Box Game 2
Kansas City, MO-The men's volleyball team is in Kansas City, Missouri this weekend for the annual MAMVIC Conference Tournament at Bartle Hall. The Jackets opened play Friday morning with a 3-0 sweep of Hannibal LaGrange. Graceland won, 30-23, 30-28 & 30-22.
After defeating Hannibal LaGrange the Jackets had a tall task in front of them to advance to the championships as they had to get through the two seeded Park University Pirates. The Pirates had already defeated Graceland twice on the season but Friday the Jackets got revenge. After starting off the match trailing 2-0 Graceland turned it up a gear and won three straight beating the Pirates in 5. Scores were: 24-30, 25-30, 32-30, 30-28 & 21-19.
This match was amazing," stated an excited Head Coach Chad McDole following the win. "I am so proud of these guys, we played our hearts out. My MVP goes to Senior OH Kevin Allison for his performance today. He had 20 kills averaging 4 kills per game against the #5 team in the country! However, our success needs to be credited largely to our passers," continued McDole. "The difference today was our passing! Taylor Hammann, Keith Sears, Pono Yin and Kevin Allison allowed our team to be in system after the 2nd set and that is one of the biggest reasons we were able to make our 3-0 run after being down 2-0 in the 3rd set. The other portion our game that needs equal credit is our blocking, with help from our defense. Game 4 Andres Quinones sealed the match with a solo block against Henry Uribe, the #1 hitter in the country averaging 4.9 kills per game! Alex Bogda a freshman came in as a middle hitter and played a huge factor in our win tonight. Alex is so quick, definitely the quickest middle we have and closed blocks forcing there hitters to make bad decisions. Austin Isham was able to find our hot hitters and Joe Klein really opened up our offense by establishing the middle early in the match. Hamish MacPhee did a great job serving allowing us to point score at a very high percentage with his serve. It was really a story book match, everyone contributed, I am still floating and spinning! It was a performance I will never forget," finished McDole.
The Jackets will face Lindenwood University in the MAMVIC Championship game tomorrow at 1pm with an automatic berth into the National Tournament field on the line. Stay tuned to the Jacket athletics website for continuing coverage of the men's volleyball team and all of Jacket athletics.
For More Information on Graceland University Athletics Contact:
Matt Shelton, Sports Information Director
(641) 784-5318
mshelton@graceland.edu
Want to receive instant updates on your favorite teams or all the Graceland scores via text message or email? Sign up for the Jackets new "E-Score" service by clicking the e-scores link on the home page or each teams individual page.
