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Lady Celts Head for NAIA Championship
11/16/2010
 The Lady Celts came into the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament as underdogs sporting the third seed looking for a “three-peat.” With tournament wins in 2008 and 2009, the Lady Celts knew what it would take to get to the championship match. The double elimination tournament was played over three day period November 11-13 at St. Thomas.
The Lady Celts started off the tournament strong at noon on Thursday with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-17) victory over Central Baptist College. They were led by Casey Mulryan with 16 kills and an impressive .666 hitting percentage. Lauren Poe and Mallory Wendel both chipped in with 7 kills to bring balance to the Celts attack.
“It was a great way for us to start the tournament,” said coach Trent Herman. “We came out with a few nerves but worked through them and found our rhythm.”
Next up for the Lady Celts was the No. 2 seeded Talladega College. UST made an early statement in the tournament with a strong 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-13) victory. The Lady Celts had four players with 9 or more kills for the match and hit a strong .444 for the match. Casey Mulryan led the way with 11 kills followed by Mallory Wendel 10 kills. Courtney Johnson and Lauren Poe each posted 9 kills.
“It was very important for us to go out and make any early statement that we were here to win. The team was focused and push hard through the whole match,” Herman said.
With the two victories on Thursday, it set up the match with No. 1 seeded Southwestern College on Friday. The Lady Celts came out strong taking the first two sets both with close scores. Southwestern stormed back and found their rhythm taking the last three sets to take a 3-2 (25-22, 28-26, 18-25, 22-25, 11-15) victory. The win put Southwestern in the tournament championship match waiting for its opponent. The Lady Celts had three hitters with double digit kills, Casey Mulryan with 19, Kinzie Van Voorst with 13 and Mallory Wendel with 10.
 With the loss to Southwestern, it set up an interesting Saturday for the Lady Celts. To win the conference title, they would have to win three straight matches to be played consecutively. St. Thomas first had to face Embry-Riddle early Saturday morning to get to the Championship match. The Lady Celts came out determined to get back to the Championship match. Strong all around performances by Casey Mulryan and Lauren Poe paced the Lady Celts to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-7) victory. The defense was a key with Brittany Downs and Kinzie Van Voorst recording 13 and 10 digs respectively.
Next up was Southwestern in Championship Match No. 1. Everyone knew the match would not be easy and would be a fight to the very end. Just the day before, Southwestern had beaten the Lady Celts in 5 sets. The Lady Celts came out and made a statement that they were not ready to give up their conference title. Paced by Seniors Casey Mulryan and Lauren Poe, they won the hard fought match 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-18) to force the Championship Match No. 2 for the conference title.
Championship Match No. 2 was much of the same as the previous two matches with Southwestern. The match saw many momentum shifts and great plays from both teams, but in the end the Lady Celts won the hard fought match 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19). A balanced attack with four Celts with 7 kills or more and strong defense led to the 3 set victory. What made the title run more impressive is the fact that the Lady Celts had just played three straight matches in a six hour time frame and won each match 3-0.
The three-peat had been finalized. Kinzie Van Voorst and Mallory Wendel were named to the All-Tournament Team with Casey Mulryan being named the Tournament MVP. Other members of the All-Tournament Team are as follows: Southwestern (Meredith Oistad & Bethany Beckman), Embry-Riddle (Mahlet Lee & Morgan Vieira), Marygrove (Jalissa Favors).
The Lady Celts will next take the court on Saturday November 20th as the face College of Idaho in the Opening Round Matches of the NAIA National Tournament.
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