1997 NJCAA Women's Volleyball Championship

1997 NJCAA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE:

   NATIONAL TOURNAMENT       NOV 24-26     (16 TEAMS)
   FINAL                     NOV 26

Utah Valley State College
Orem, Utah
November 24-26, 1997

RESULTS

CSI Wins Fifth Straight NJCAA Title

CSI played come-from-behind in game one. Trailing 12-9, the Golden Eagles ran off six straight points to grab the win. Joy Sperry's solo block gave CSI the final point. In game two it was Miami's turn for a comeback. CSI jumped out to a 6-1 lead, but the Barracudas tied it at 9-9. With the score still knotted at 13-13, the Florida club got a block from Monica Gutierrez and Elizabeth Perez, followed by a CSI hitting error to take a 15-13 win. But from there it was all CSI, as the Golden Eagles turned on the after burners. The blocking game was the big story as the Eagles soared to two easy wins, 15-2, and 15-4. Reneeka Gause anchored the defense as she logged an amazing 17 block assists for the match. Joy Sperry and Hai Yan Wang added eight blocks apiece, as the CSI defense was almost impenetrable in the final two games.

"The block was the difference," said CSI coach Ben Stroud. "We made some adjustments after the second game. We moved our block out, and made them turn the ball in. I think it's hard for teams who come up against us here. They don't see a big block like this. This was a great team. They just kept firing until they got the job done."

Wang led the way led the way offensively for CSI with 15 kills. Flavio Gabinio had 14 kills, and Sperry had 13. For Miami-Dade Janaina Miranda had 17 kills, and Mariuska Hamilton had 10.xx Wang was named the tournament MVP for the second straight year. Gabinio and Sperry were named to the All-Tournament team, along with Miami's Miranda and Hamilton. Also on the All-Tournament squad were Jelena Miljanic and Amelia Pasch of Sheridan, Ning Zhao and Danielle Geronymo of Barton County, Vicki Braden of Elgin, Micaela Conley of Glendale, Vicki Ellison of Kirkwood, and Shawn Roever of Jefferson. Stroud was named the Coach of the Year.

SEMI-FINALS

In the first semi-final, Southern Idaho made short work of a game but over-matched Sheridan Club. The Golden Eagles pounded their way to a 15-5, 15-7, 15-2 win, hitting .411 as a team. Flavio Gabinio led the attack with 12 kills. Hai Yan Wang had 10 kills with a .615 hitting percent, and Reneeka Gause added 10 more with a .600 percentage. Joy Sperry had nine kills. Sheridan hit just .081 against a powerful Southern Idaho block. Jelena Miljanic led the Generals with nine kills.

In the other semi-final, Barton County battled top-ranked Miami- Dade, but finally succumbed 9-15, 15-12, 15-7, 16-14. The Cougars were poised to send the match to a fifth game, as they took a 14-12 lead in game four. But the Florida club scored four straight to get the win. Janaina Miranda led the Barracudas with 20 kills. Monica Gutierrez had 18 kills, and Mariuska Hamilton had 14. For Barton, Shannon Pierson had 13 kills, followed by Micah Roman with 12, Tori Holtmeier with 11, and Danielle Geronymo with 10.

THIRD PLACE

Barton County grabbed third place with a 15-12, 15-12, 15-12 win over Sheridan. All three games were closely contested, but Barton pulled away at the end each time. In the final game, it was 11-11 when Barton scored two straight to go up by two. Sheridan closed it to 13-12, but Barton closed with an ace by Shannon Pierson and a kill by Micah Roman. Pierson and Danielle Geronymo led the Kansas club with 13 kills apiece. Roman added 12 kills. For Sheridan, Jelena Miljanic had 19 kills. Amelia Pasch had 11.

DISTRICT/REGIONAL CHAMPIONS:
District 1/Region 18	Clg. of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID 54-1
District 2/Region 1	Glendale CC, Glendale, AZ 41-6
District 3/Regions 2-5	Collin County CC, Plano, TX 30-12
District 4/Region 6	Barton County CC, Great Bend, KS 55-1
District 5/Regions 11-13	Kirkwood CC, Cedar Rapids, IA 43-5
District 6/Region 14	Lee College, Baytown, TX 27-9
District 7/Region 4	Elgin CC, Elgin, IL 51-7
District 8/Region 12	Kellogg CC, Battle Creek, MI 49-12
District 9/Regions 7-10-17-23	Brevard College, Brevard, NC 19-4
District 10/Region 8	Miami-Dade CC, Miami, FL 30-6
District 11/Region 22	Northwest-Shoals CC, Muscle Shoals, AL 32-4
District 12/Region 16	Jefferson College, Hillsboro, MO 42-5
District 13/Region 9	Sheridan College, Sheridan, WY 36-15
District 14/Region 20	Hagerstown JC, Hagerstown, MD 29-9
District 15/Region 24	Illinois Central College, East Peoria, IL 52-6
District 16/Regions 3-19-21	Delaware Tech. CC/Stanton, Newark, DE 28-7

1997 NATIONAL TOURNAMENT POOL PLAY Monday, November 24/Tuesday, November 25 Pool A 1. Miami-Dade 2. Kellogg 3. Sheridan 4. Delaware Tech. Sheridan vs. Kellogg 15-13, 18-16, 15-7 Miami-Dade vs. Delaware Tech. 15-1, 15-1, 15-1 Kellogg vs. Delaware Tech. 15-6, 15-10, 15-9 Miami-Dade vs. Sheridan 15-13, 15-3, 15-4 Sheridan vs. Delaware Tech. 15-1, 15-1, 15-6 Miami-Dade vs. Kellogg 15-9, 15-5, 15-3 Teams that advance: #1 - Miami-Dade (9-0) #2 - Sheridan (6-3) Pool B 1. Southern Idaho 2. Kirkwood 3. Lee 4. Brevard Kirkwood vs. Lee 15-11, 15-10, 15-10 Southern Idaho vs. Brevard 15-2, 15-1, 15-7 Kirkwood vs. Brevard 15-11, 15-1, 15-10 Southern Idaho vs. Lee 15-4, 15-4, 15-3 Lee vs. Brevard 15-5, 15-2, 15-11 Southern Idaho vs. Kirkwood 15-6, 15-7, 15-6 Teams that advance: #1 - Southern Idaho (9-0) #2 - Kirkwood (6-3) Pool C 1. Barton County 2. Illinois Central 3. Elgin 4. Collin County Elgin vs. Illinois Central 6-15, 15-11, 15-10 Barton County vs. Collin County 15-8, 15-6, 15-5 Illinois Central vs. Collin County 15-5, 16-14, 15-8 Elgin vs. Barton County 7-15, 15-7, 15-7 Elgin vs. Collin County 15-13, 15-7, 15-2 Barton County vs. Illinois Central 13-15, 15-6, 15-8 Teams that advance: #1 - Elgin (7-2) #2 - Barton County (6-3) Pool D 1. Glendale 2. Jefferson 3. NW-Shoals 4. Hagerstown Jefferson vs. NW-Shoals 15-7, 15-5, 15-6 Glendale vs. Hagerstown 15-3, 15-7, 15-8 Jefferson vs. Hagerstown 15-3, 15-4, 15-8 Glendale vs. NW-Shoals 15-5, 15-1, 15-8 Hagerstown vs. NW-Shoals 15-9, 8-15, 15-10 Jefferson vs. Glendale 12-15, 15-12, 15-11 Teams that advance: #1 - Jefferson (8-1) #2 - Glendale (7-2) CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY: Miami-Dade def. Kirkwood 15-6, 16-14, 15-7 Barton County def. Jefferson 15-9, 15-8, 16-14 Sheridan def. Elgin 16-14, 16-14, 6-15, 15-11 Southern Idaho def. Glendale 15-6, 15-4, 12-15, 15-7 SEMI-FINAL GAMES: Miami-Dade def. Barton County 15-12, 9-15, 15-7, 16-14 Southern Idaho def. Sheridan 15-5, 15-7, 15-2 THIRD PLACE GAME: Barton County def. Sheridan 15-12, 15-12, 15-12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Southern Idaho def. Miami-Dade 15-12, 13-15, 15-2, 15-4

1997 FINAL TEAM STANDINGS:
1st Place	College of Southern Idaho Twin Falls, ID
2nd Place	Miami-Dade Community College Miami, FL
3rd Place	Barton County Community College Great Bend, KS
4th Place	Sheridan College Sheridan, WY
5th Place Tie	Kirkwood Community College, IA Jefferson College, MO Elgin Community College, IL Glendale CC, AZ

OTHER PARTICIPATING TEAMS: Kellogg CC, MI; Delaware Technical CC, DE; Illinois Central College, IL; Collin County CC, TX; Lee College, TX; Brevard College, NC; Northwest-Shoals CC, AL; and Hagerstown JC, MD. ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Vicki Braden, Elgin CC, IL Micaela Conley, Glendale CC, AZ Vicki Ellison, Kirkwood CC, IA Flavia Gabinio, Clg. of Southern Idaho, ID Danielle Geronymo, Barton County CC, KS Mariuska Hamilton, Miami-Dade CC, FL Jelena Miljanic, Sheridan College, WY Janaina Miranda, Miami-Dade CC, FL Amelia Pasch, Sheridan College, WY Shawn Roever, Jefferson College, MO Joy Sperry, Clg. of Southern Idaho, ID Ning Zhao, Barton County CC, KS MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Hai Yan Wang, Clg. of Southern Idaho COACH OF THE TOURNAMENT: Ben Stroud, Clg. of Southern Idaho

1997 NJCAA DIVISION III WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

DISTRICT/REGIONAL CHAMPIONS:
District 1/Region 3	Jamestown CC, Jamestown, NY 38-4
District 2/Region 4	Rock Valley College, Rockford, IL 32-14
District 3/Region 5	Cedar Valley College, Lancaster, TX 24-10
District 4/Region 13	Ridgewater College, Willmar, MN 33-5
District 5/Region 15	Orange County CC, Middletown, NY 25-3
District 6/Region 6	Hesston College, Hesston, KS 25-16
District 7/Region 12-20	Owens CC, Toledo, OH 27-18
District 8/Region 19	Lehigh Carbon CC, Schnecksville, PA 12-18

1997 NATIONAL TOURNAMENT POOL PLAY Friday, November 14 Pool A Jamestown (Seed #1) vs. Lehigh Carbon 15-2, 15-3, 15-6 Rock Valley (Seed #4) vs. Owens 15-9, 7-15, 15-8 Jamestown vs. Owens 10-15, 15-9, 15-11 Rock Valley vs. Lehigh Carbon 15-3, 15-3, 15-0 Jamestown vs. Rock Valley 9-15, 15-11, 15-12 Owens vs. Lehigh Carbon 15-3, 15-7, 15-3 Pool B Cedar Valley (Seed #2) vs. Hesston 12-15, 4-15, 15-12 Ridgewater (Seed #3) vs. Orange 15-5, 15-5, 10-15 Cedar Valley vs. Ridgewater 12-15, 13-15, 5-15 Orange vs. Cedar Valley 5-15, 8-15, 4-15 Ridgewater vs. Hesston 15-12, 15-12, 12-15 Hesston vs. Orange 15-8, 15-4, 15-9 SEMI-FINAL GAMES Saturday, November 15 Hesston def. Jamestown 16-4, 6-15, 3-15, 15-13, 15-10 Rock Valley def. Ridgewater 15-13, 15-13, 13-15, 15-9 THIRD PLACE GAME Ridgewater def. Jamestown 8-15, 15-6, 15-10, 15-11 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Rock Valley def. Hesston 15-8, 15-6, 15-5

1997 FINAL TEAM STANDINGS:
1st Place	Rock Valley College Rockford, Illinois
2nd Place	Hesston College Hesston, Kansas
3rd Place	Ridgewater College Willmar, Minnesota
4th Place	Jamestown Community College Jamestown, New York

OTHER PARTICIPATING TEAMS:

Orange County Community College, Middletown, New York
Owens Community College, Toledo, Ohio
Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania
Cedar Valley College, Lancaster, Texas

1997 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

Rachel Schrader, Rock Valley
Sheila Zander, Rock Valley
Tandy Johnson, Rock Valley
Janie Knabe, Hesston
Rachel Stuckey, Hesston
Jackie Robinson, Ridgewater
Sadie Nordstrom, Ridgewater
Linda Hallberg, Jamestown
Asa Gustavsson, Jamestown
Sarah Swinney, Cedar Valley
Natalie Griffin, Orange County
Abby Thompson, Owens

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Tandy Johnson, Rock Valley
COACH OF THE TOURNAMENT: Heidi Hutchison, Rock Valley