LWC Volleyball wins naia national championship

The LWC Volleyball team caps off an undefeated season with the school's first national championship.

Brandon Roark

Staff Writer

The LWC Volleyball team poses in front of "Big Red" to celebrate their Championship. (Photo: LWC Athletics)

For the first time in school history Lindsey Wilson College volleyball team won the NAIA Volleyball National championship defeating Dordt 3 sets to 1 in the best of 5 series . This is the first time a team went undefeated to win the NAIA Championship since Park did so in 2014. With record of 35-0 this season the Lindsey Wilson volleyball team steamrolled their competition.

In a sit down interview with Lindsey Wilson volleyball player Grace Blomstedt a Junior at the college, she was asked what she thinks is the biggest reason for the team's success this year and she said “I think that we have pretty good team chemistry. I think that one of the big things we have going for us that we are a pretty deep this year. So when someone is having a bad game we have plenty of people to come of the bench.” This would be pivotal for the Blue Raiders when Yeniffer Ramirez went down in the third set of the title match due to a leg injury.

During the match injury struck the Blue Raiders with Makenzie Montano falling in the second set suffering an ankle injury after stepping on a Dordt players foot. However, with an extended timeout, Montano come back into the game to help her team bring home the title.

Lindsey Wilson started big with a 25-16 win in the first set of the match. Starting strong was truly important for the Blue Raiders with a predominantly Dordt crowd. They set the pace early trying to take the crowd out of the game. Yeniffer Ramirez and Paulina Sobolewska had four kills apiece in the first set, while Carolynne Silva had two blocks, one assisted block, and three team blocks for the Blue Raiders.

During the second set with the lead, Montano goes down with an ankle injury. This would not slow down the Blue Raiders after a timeout Montano came back out onto the floor ready to play. A move that paid off with the Blue Raiders winning the set 25-23. Lindsey Wilson led the match 2-0.

The Dordt Defenders would come out with renewed energy to begin the third set, taking an early lead 9-3. After taking the lead Dordt did not look back during the set beating the Blue Raiders 25-20 to take the third set making it 2-1

When talking to Lindsey Wilson College volleyball player Lauren Streets, she was asked about the attitude of the team she responded with “our teams attitude is very focused on our goal. We all push each other to be better and stay very intense in practices. The scrimmages we play in practice help us improve tremendously. Even though we are usually pretty focused and serious, we find time to have fun and joke around in practice and outside of the gym. We all know times to have fun and times to be serious though.”

With Ramirez out going into the fourth set, the team came out with a new fire, gaining an early leaded with an early five point advantage. LWC controlled the final set, finishing with an eleven point lead over the Dordt Defenders making it 25-14 Lindsey Wilson, earning the first NAIA Volleyball National Championship in school history.

“One team with one dream!” This is a phrase that many teams use for the season. Never has it been more true than for the number 1 nationally ranked Lindsey Wilson women’s volleyball team this season. All members of the team played with one goal in mind and that is to win a national championship. The team proved that fact every time they hit the floor.

With a season record of 35-0 and a conference record of 14-0. This team has made a statement this year winning the national championship. The team is well rounded with players that are experienced in these situation and kept everyone on task. Coach Andy Cavins made it clear the only goal for the season was to be the best in the country, “that is our only focus. To play as well as we possibly can both individually and collectively, if we are able to achieve this peak performance then we firmly believe that a championship is within our grasp.”

The team proved that having the focus being the NAIA National Championship being the main focus pays off. The Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders are the 2017 NAIA National Champions and 2017 Mid-South Conference Champions. A team of champions that we will never forget.