October 25, 2007
Contact: Evangel University Athletics 865-2815, Ext. 7282
The EU ladies celebrate senior night in their final regular season home match and last Heart of America Athletic Conference match of the year on Thursday, Oct. 25, versus MidAmerica Nazarene. The JV match begins at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity match follows at 7.
Evangel (22-10, 6-3) has one regular season match left after the Oct. 25 home match with MidAmerica Nazarene (11-23, 1-6). The Lady Crusaders travel to Pt. Lookout, Mo., to face area rival College of the Ozarks at 7 p.m. in Keeter Gymnasium.
The Lady Crusaders then play in the conference tournament on Saturday, Nov. 3. If the EU ladies finish in the top four on the final standings list, they will host a first round (quarterfinal) match on Nov. 3. If they drop below No. 4 and stay above No. 9 (top eight advance), the EU women will be on the road that night. Currently, there is a three-way tie for second place between Baker, Benedictine and Evangel.
Five Evangel seniors are to be honored prior to the varsity game on Thursday, Oct. 25. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
The 2007 seniors are Jennifer Magnuson (Willard, Mo., High School, 2004), Kristina Mooney (Logan-Rogersville High School, 2004), Rachel Rees (Houston, Mo., High School, 2004), Ashleigh Sullivan (Metro Academy, 2004, Overland Park, Kans.), and Shannon Yates (Logan-Rogersville High School, 2004). Mooney and Yates are from Rogersville and played together at Logan-Rogersville.
Senior Kristina Mooney is the Heart of America Athletic Conference libero of the week award for the second time this season. Mooney averaged 6.7 digs in six games last week (Oct. 15-21). She had a .938 passing percentage (3 errors, 48 chances) and a perfect service percentage (19 chances). Mooney also won the conference’s libero of the week award on Oct. 3.
The Evangel JV volleyball team travels to Missouri Valley College in Marshall for the Heart of America Athletic Conference JV Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 27.
Ten teams break up into three pools on Friday, Oct. 26. In pool play, Evangel faces Baker at 11 a.m., Avila at 3 p.m. and host Missouri Valley at 5 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 27, the teams play in one of two single-elimination brackets. Teams will match up depending on the results from pool play. The Gold Championship Bracket (six teams) begins at 9 a.m., the semifinal matches are at 1 p.m. and the tournament championship match is at 3 p.m. The Silver Consolation Bracket (four teams) begins at 11 a.m. with the winners playing at 3 p.m. for the consolation championship.
The Lady Crusaders’ win over Missouri Valley on Oct. 9 was the 20th victory of the 2007 season. The 20-win season is head coach Mary Penrod’s fifth in a row and the Evangel volleyball program’s 11th overall. EU is currently 22-10.
In the highly-contested series, Evangel has a 16-14 advantage against MidAmerica Nazarene. The EU ladies, however, have won the last three matches.
The most recent match resulted in a 3-1 Evangel win at MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kans. The Lady Crusaders won 30-23, 30-20, 28-30, and 30-22.
Senior Kristina Mooney had 18 digs versus Missouri Baptist on Oct. 5 to break the season digs mark. She now has 751 digs. The previous mark was 595 by Lisa Wakley in 2001.
Mooney is also the owner of the career digs record at Evangel. She broke the previous mark during the final match of the Lindenwood Invitational on Oct. 6 vs. McKendree. Mooney tallied 30 digs in the five-game match against McKendree to move past Molly Hawkins-Illum, who had 1,765 digs (1996-99). Currently, Mooney has 1,850 digs.
The Lady Crusaders helped their chances of staying in the top four of the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings with their 3-1 win at Baker on Oct. 23. EU won the match by game scores of 30-23, 30-26, 28-30, and 30-25. Baker, Benedictine and Evangel are now tied for the No. 2 spot in the standings with 6-3 records.
Julie O’Dell-Griffith, Lacey Gaines and Ashleigh Sullivan led EU’s offense with 15, 13, and 10 kills, respectively. O’Dell-Griffith added nine blocks at the net and Gaines had five. Setting the ball in EU’s two-setter offense were the usual pair, Rachel Rees and Skyler Warren. Rees had 25 assists and Warren had 21. Kristina Mooney led EU’s defense with 23 digs and also had 24 serves with zero errors and one ace.
Evangel is 22-10 overall and 6-3 versus Heart of America Athletic Conference opponents. The Lady Crusaders are 3-2 at home, 6-4 on the road, and 13-4 on a neutral court. Evangel has won six of its last seven games (five straight wins, then loss to Graceland, then win at Baker). Evangel’s most recent match resulted in a 4-1 (30-23, 30-26, 28-30, 30-25) win at Baker on Oct. 23.
MidAmerica Nazarene is 11-23 overall and 1-6 in the conference. After losing 11 matches in a row, the Lady Pioneers have won four of the last six matches and three of the last four. MidAmerica Nazarene lost its most recent match, 0-3 (21-30, 22-30, 20-30) at Central Methodist in Fayette, Mo., on Oct. 23.
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Lindenwood |
9-0 |
2 |
Baker |
6-3 |
|
Benedictine |
6-3 |
|
Evangel |
6-3 |
| 5 | William Jewell | 5-3 |
| 6 | Central Methodist | 5-4 |
| Graceland | 5-4 | |
| 8 | Avila | 4-5 |
9 |
MidAmerica Nazarene |
1-6 |
| 10 | Culver-Stockton | 0-7 |
|
Missouri Valley |
0-9 |
Mary Penrod is in her eighth year as the EU head volleyball coach. She is currently 166-118 (.585) and her last five squads, including this season’s team, have won 20 or more matches. The Lady Crusaders’ record over the last five seasons is 111-65 (.631). The 2006 Evangel squad 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 under Penrod.