September 10, 2007
Contact: Evangel University Athletics 865-2815, Ext. 7282
The Lady Crusaders will put their seven-match winning streak and 9-2 record on the line when they visit Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Lindenwood is ranked No. 15 in the nation (NAIA) and has a 9-4 record. The varsity match is scheduled for 7 p.m. The junior varsity matches will begin at 4 and 5 p.m.
The team will hit the road again on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14-15, to play in the MidAmerica Nazarene tournament in Olathe, Kans. EU faces Bethel (Ind.) at 1 p.m. on Sept. 14 and Dana (Neb.) at 5. On Sept. 15, Evangel will meet Friends (Kans.) at 9 a.m. and Ottawa (Kans.) at 1 p.m.
The Lady Crusaders got their 2007 Heart of America Athletic Conference schedule off to a successful start with a 3-0 win over visiting Culver-Stockton on Sept. 5. Evangel won the games 30-15, 30-21, 30-23. Julie O’Dell-Griffith led EU’s offense with 12 kills. Lacey Gaines contributed seven kills and Savannah Rose had six. O’Dell-Griffith and Jennifer Brocker each tallied four blocks. In the two-setter offense that EU uses, Rachel Rees and Skyler Warren each had 14 assists. Shannon Yates and Warren served two aces each. Warren and Kristina Mooney were credited with 20 digs each.
Several players on the 2007 team are slowly working their way up in the Evangel career record book.
Senior Kristina Mooney ranks No. 2 in successful serves (2049, needs 684 to break record), No. 2 in serves attempted (2101, needs 694 to break record) and is No. 3 in digs (1398).
Senior Shannon Yates is No. 6 in successful serves (1701), No. 5 in serves attempted (1868), No. 7 in aces (117), No. 13 in assists (563), and No. 5 in digs (1160). Yates is the 10th Lady Crusader to total 1,000 digs.
Junior Skyler Warren ranks No. 7 in sets attempted (5759) and No. 6 in assists (1678). She is No. 15 on the career digs list (851), No. 7 in successful serves (1598) and No. 8 in serves attempted (1683).
Senior Rachel Rees ranks No. 8 in sets attempted (4865) and No. 8 in assists (1418).
On the career kills list, senior Jennifer Magnuson is No. 16 (567). Junior Julie O’Dell-Griffith had 98 more kills in the Belhaven tourney to teach the 500-kill plateau. She ranks No. 17 (565).
Julie O’Dell-Griffith leads Evangel offense with a 40.4 kill percentage. She averages 4.7 kills per game. O’Dell-Griffith is also the blocks leader with a 1.6 blocks per game average. Defensively, Kristina Mooney has 299 digs and Shannon Yates has 262. At the service line, Yates tops all players with 12 aces and Skyler Warren leads the team in serve percentage. Warren has a 96.7 service percentage (260-269). In EU’s two-setter offense, Warren has accumulated 222 assists and Rachel Rees has 202.
Lindenwood leads the series 17-7 and has won the last three meetings.
Mary Penrod begins her 8th year as Evangel’s head volleyball coach in 2007. Her teams have won 20 or more matches the past four seasons. The 2006 Evangel team received votes for a spot on the NAIA national poll for the first time ever and the 2005 squad qualified for the program’s first visit to the NAIA Region V tournament. Penrod is currently 153-110 overall at Evangel.