October 25, 2007

2007 USCAA Volleyball National Championship

Tournament Heats Up After Day 1

FORT WAYNE, IN - Day one of the 2007 USCAA Volleyball National Championship is over and still no clear favorite has emerged. 

Taylor University Fort Wayne, the host of this year's event, has been to the national championship game two years in a row, yet had Florida College take the title from them both times.  In the first game today, Fort Wayne beat St. Joseph's College in two very close games (30-22, 30-27).  An even bigger surprise may have been the game going on across court, where Florida College who is one of this year's favorites, barely squeezed by Rochester College of Michigan (30-27, 30-28).

Spalding University, a new member to the USCAA in 2007, went into this year's championship as the number one ranked team in the nation (regular season).  They proved themselves strong in their first match of the day, defeating NHTI in two games.  In the meantime, Southern Virginia, another favorite, struggled in showing dominance, beating the University of Cincinnati-Clermont in three games (30-27, 28-30, 15-10).

Top seeds prevailed in today's mid-day games with Taylor FW beating UC Clermont (30-22, 30-21), Florida College beating NHTI (30-14, 30-18), Spalding beating Rochester (30-25, 30-19), and Southern Virginia beating St. Joseph's College (30-17, 30-21).

NHTI came alive in their 3:30pm game against Rochester College.  However, the Lady Warriors of Rochester proved too tough for the Lady Capitals, as Rochester won (30-24, 30-14).  Across court, St. Joseph's defeated UC Clermont in two very close games (30-26, 30, 27).

Even after a day of close competition, no one was prepared for the event to come at 5:00pm.  It was reported that the gym on the campus of Taylor University was the loudest it has ever been.  On court one, Florida College, two time defending USCAA National Champions faced off against the regular season #1 Spalding University.  The new kid on the block, Spalding University won the first game 27-30.  Then, Florida College sparked a run, defeating Spalding 30-24 in game two, and then 15-7 in the third game for the match win.  On court two were Southern Virginia University and Taylor University Fort Wayne, who were tied for second place in the regular season.  After dropping the first game by 12 points (18-30), Southern Virginia came back to defeat Taylor 30-20 and 15-8.

After day one, Southern Virginia and Florida College remain undefeated.  Taylor Fort Wayne and Spalding University each posted two wins and a loss in close matches.  However, teams with one win have proven strong.  Rochester College lost to Florida College by only 5 points in the two games combined.  Also, St. Joseph's College posted a strong win over UC Clermont and played well against Southern Virginia and Taylor FW.  Even the USCAA teams not coming away with a win could prove to be upsets on Saturday.  NHTI came on much stronger as the day went on yesterday, and hope to take that momentum against Southern Virginia tomorrow.  Also, UC Clermont could be a sleeper, especially since they took undefeated Southern Virginia into three games this morning.

Make sure you stay tuned to the website tomorrow for immediate updates from the 2007 Volleyball National Championships.

Tomorrow's line-up 

9:00 am - Rochester College plays Taylor Fort Wayne

                Spalding University plays Saint Joseph's College  

 11:30 am - Florida College plays Cincinnati-Clermont

                  Southern Virginia plays NHTI