Clearwater Christian College Volleyball Captures 13th National Championship with Eight in a Row

Related Media

CCC Volleyball

CLEARWATER, FL (11/20/2013)(readMedia)-- Clearwater Christian College participated in the 2013 NCCAA II National Volleyball Championship this past weekend at Lincoln Christian University in Illinois. The team captured another national championship banner for the eighth straight season marking their 13th national title since 1995.

During the three-day event 10 teams from across the country came together to compete for the national title. Clearwater performed well during pool play beating West Coast Baptist College, Arlington Baptist College, and Maranatha Baptist Bible College. The only loss during the pool play was against the home team 3-1, which placed the Cougars as the second seed from the pool going into the semifinals on Saturday against Manhattan College. The Lady Cougars, though plague by the flu, came out strong and won in three straight sets, putting them into the championship match against Ozark Christian College, who upset Lincoln in the other semifinal match. The Clearwater verses Ozark match up was a repeat of both the 2010 and 2011 championship finals and the results were the same; Clearwater took three straight sets to capture the crown.

Clearwater was led by senior Dana Medich playing her last match in a Cougar uniform as she scored another double/double with 11 kills and10 digs. Middle Hitter, Emily Mayer also came up big, leading all hitters with 16 kills and a 67% hitting efficiency. Setter Cassie Foster, again led an impressive offense with 33 set assists.

According to Coach Denny, "This has to be one of the best wins among all of our championships because we were battling adversity every step of the way. With four different starters struggling with sickness during the tournament, I had to put together a new lineup and the team came together playing one of their best matches of the year".

This year's theme came from Psalm 25. "Lifting Up"...Our Soul, Our God, and Our Teammates". During the national championship run, all three of these components were evident as the Cougars captured their 13th national title, winning the past 8 in a row.

Honors include:

NCCAA Scholar Athlete: Amanda Bucklin, Teah Cole, Dana Medich, Cassie Foster, Devan Dampier, Christen Johnson

NCCAA II First Team All-American: Dana Medich, Cassie Foster, Emily Mayer

NCCAA National All-Tournament Team: Dana Medich, Cassie Foster, Emily Mayer