KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Although Campbellsville University Lady Tiger volleyball will leave the NCCAA National Championships disappointed, CU pulled together in the final match and seven seniors went out on a good note.
It was a tough pill to swallow as CU finished 1-3 in the tournament. But the Lady Tigers had a very successful year, and I was glad to be a part of the ride.
With the biggest senior class to ever come through the Lady Tiger program, Coaches Amy Zink and Billy Gregory will need to go on the recruiting trail this off season to regain almost all of its offense as the only leading outside hitter retrurners are Jana Kortas and Aleksandra Popovic.
The season for Campbellsville started on a great note as the Lady Tigers traveled with Score International to Costa Rica for a beginning-of-the-year mission trip.
While on the trip many players were able to share the Word of Jesus Christ and be His witness to others in need of His grace.
CU had some spare time on the trip and went white water rafting with their funniest moment coming from Jackie Schwieger as she fell out of the raft.
When the team came back they kept their hard work going on the court as they started off the month of September with a 13-2 record. The highlight match for CU during that stretch was a big win over Viterbo University in the Olivet Nazarene Tournament.
In October Campbellsville may have lost a step by going 7-5 but the Lady Tigers still prevailed in the very tough Mid-South Conference, finishing third.
With the regular season coming to an end and post season starting, CU went 7-2 in the month of November with its only losses coming to Georgetown College in the MSC Tournament and Lee University in the NCCAA Mid-East Regional Tournament.
Coming into the tournament, CU had high hopes of bringing home Campbellsville's second team national championship, as the volleyball team did in 2009.
But with that team and this team there was a big difference in personnel. No one person dominated the others and it was a total team effort.
The seven Lady Tiger seniors shared the workload and all stepped up in big moments.
Rinata Aisena led the way as she received MSC Player of the Week honors a league-leading four times. She was also selected to the MSC All-Conference Team along with fellow seniors Caitlin Dresing and Kelly Moyer.
Moyer was also selected for the second time to the MSC First Team as she was honored for the same last season. The LaGrange, Ky., native showed to be a proven leader on the court as she was always the vocal one of the bunch.
Caitlin Dresing was the only CU player remaing from the 2009 National Championship team. Dresing came to Campbellsville in 2009 but sat out in 2010. Once she did not play in 2010, the Louisville, Ky., native missed the game so much and decided to come back to Campbellsville to finish her career.
She will leave her mark on the Lady Tiger program as she sits in second place in program history (behind Zink) with 2,180 career digs and averaged 3.99 digs per set through the 2013 regular season.
The other four seniors, Giselle Hernandez, Daiane Souza, Lexis Lloyd and Audrey Sanders have all been major contributors in 2013.
Hernandez had her best season in 2013 with 220 kills in the regular season and was moved from more of a defensive specialist her freshman year to right side hitter her senior year.
Lexis Lloyd and Audrey Sanders, both defensive specialists, always seemed to come up with the diving plays on big attacks by opponents.
As we all know, the defense does not get much credit in volleyball but if it weren't for these two combining for 2,534 digs then the offensive numbers would not have been so high for Aisena, Moyer, Hernandez and the last senior, Daiane Souza.
Souza is a vocal and very enthusiastic player. Whenever the team loses, she is the one who takes it the hardest and when the team wins, she is also the one who celebrates the loudest.
There have been many opportunities where she has delivered a big right-handed kill and jumped up and down — stomping the floor with excitement. I don't know about anyone else, but plays like that and emotion for any game like that gives me chills just thinking about it.
The Lady Tigers will enjoy tomorrow as they will get a chance to do some shopping at the many outlet malls and may even enjoy a day at Disney World. CU is scheduled to come back to Campbellsville on Sunday, flying into Louisville International Airport.
"It's bittersweet but it always is," said assistant coach Billy Gregory. "We were disappointed with the way that we played in the tournament, but happy on ending on a positive note. But the bittersweet feeling comes from saying good-bye to seven players that have invested in the program and that we have invested in them as players but also young women. I always hate saying good-bye to quality players but also quality people. They have enjoyed a lot of success during their tenure here, and I'm hopeful that the lessons learned on the volleyball court will translate into something very positive for them in the game of life. So to the seven seniors, thank you!"
These seven seniors will be dearly missed by not only the coaches but also the athletic department and university.
Without their hard work on the court, and ministry off the court, the volleyball program would not be where it is today — one of the best in all of the land.
So to the seniors, thanks for the ride. It has been a joy covering Lady Tiger volleyball throughout the 2013 season.
Please keep everyone in their prayers as the team, family, and fans travel back to CU. Thank you for supporting CU Lady Tiger Volleyball. It is deeply appreciated!
Check out the CU Lady Tiger tournament central page, here, for complete diary entries and recaps of each match.
This is Jordan Alves, SID Graduate Assistant, signing off for the final time in Kissimmee, Fla. as the Lady Tigers finish their 2013 season with a 3-1 win over Oakland City University. Praying for safe travels as my travel companion, Assistant Athletics Director Jim Hardy, and I will travel back to Campbellsville Saturday morning. Thank you for following along on the daily diary entries and "goodnight to all and to all a goodnight."
