After going 3-1 to open the season at the Daemen (N.Y.) College Tournament, MVNU headed west on the program’s first-ever trip to California. The trip proved to be a very successful venture for the team as the Lady Cougars went 3-2 with the program’s first win over a top 10 team as MVNU knocked off NAIA No. 10 Vanguard (Calif.) University among its three victories on the trip.

"The California trip was a great experience from any viewpoint,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson, who wrapped up his 26th year with the Lady Cougars by posting the program’s 17th straight 30-win campaign. "The competition was great and the team grew together quickly.”

Upon returning to Ohio, MVNU won 14 of its next 16 matches - posting a 44-9 set record in the process. The only two losses came at No. 6 Georgetown (Ky.) College and against Walsh University - two teams that both went on to play in the NAIA National Tournament. In addition, Coach Swanson became the first NAIA coach to reach the 900-win mark on September 24 at Urbana University.

Then, the team ran into a speed bump in its American Mideast Conference match at Shawnee State University on October 6. Sophomore middle hitter Gina Porto went down with a knee injury in the fourth set and the Lady Cougars eventually fell in five sets. A five-set loss to the University of Northwestern Ohio followed with Porto finding out that the injury was a season-ending one.

However, instead of just throwing in the towel with the loss of one of the team’s star players, MVNU banded together and put together a 13-match winning streak to close out the regular season. During this span, the Lady Cougars dropped just five sets and picked up impressive victories over Cedarville University, Point Park (Pa.) University, Malone University, the College of Wooster, and the rematch with Walsh. They also captured the NCCAA East Region title for the 18th time and earned the right to host the AMC Tournament by finishing second in the AMC regular-season standings with a 10-2 conference mark.

MVNU fell in the semifinals of the AMC Tournament to Point Park in four sets. That was not the end of the story for the Lady Cougars, though, as they had earned a berth and the No. 1 seed in the NCCAA National Tournament in Kissimmee, Fla. MVNU went 3-1 in pool play, defeated Malone in the national semifinals, and then fell to Campbellsville (Ky.) University in the national championship match as the team posted its second-ever national runner-up finish and ended the year with a 37-10 mark.

"One of the measures of a season is to ask if the team overachieved,” said Swanson. "Well, I think that is a resounding ‘Yes!’ There was a blend of good players with experience returning and some new players and positive question marks at the start of the year. We were not really sure how it would all work out. We also had to deal with two big issues - (senior right-side hitter) Courtney (Springer)’s chronic back pain and Gina’s injury. Despite the adjustments we had to make because of these, we were still a very tough team to beat.”

"Three big things really helped us,” Swanson continued. "First, we moved (junior) Sarah (Yutzy) to middle hitter. Then, there was the emergence of (senior outside hitter) Julie (Haumschild). Finally, the development of (freshman right-side hitter) Kaylee (Hewitt) capped off the three big things that helped to take this team above and beyond expectations.”

"We were a strong back row team, especially in serve receiving,” Swanson added, referring to the team’s 93.8 serve reception percentage and 95.7 serving percentage. "(Junior middle hitter) Jackie (Albrecht), Courtney, (junior libero) Caitlin (Myles), and Kaylee were all outstanding. Our mastery in the back row really paved the way for the on-the-court success we had.”

Three seniors closed out their careers for the Lady Cougars. Setter Kaylin Austen finished as the program’s all-time leader in assists (5,743) and with the most digs of any setter in school history (1,257). She recorded 1,685 assists this year to go with 49 aces, 45 blocks, 59 kills, and 439 digs on her way to among other honors being named to the NCCAA All-American Second Team.

Springer joined Austen on the NCCAA All-American Second Team after compiling 344 kills, 23 aces, 69 blocks, 88 assists, and 472 digs. She finished her career ranked third in serve reception percentage (94.0), sixth in school history in serve reception attempts (2,512), seventh in digs (1,752), and ninth in both kills (1,539) and serve attempts (2,206).

Finally, Haumschild, who had played in just 20 sets in the previous two years, became one of the most improved players in the program’s history as she saw action in 150 sets and started 43 of the team’s 47 matches. She finished with career highs of 217 kills, 54 blocks, and 124 digs.

"I am very proud of our seniors,” said Swanson. "They are great players and great people, and they played with such intelligence and desire that it was easy to follow them.”

Albrecht put together an outstanding season as she led the Lady Cougars in kills (635) and aces (56) on the way to being named the NCCAA National Player of the Year and the program’s third NAIA Second Team All-American. She also compiled 638 digs and 95 blocks as she moved into eighth place in school history in kills (1,677) and ninth place in digs (1,612).

"Jackie had a monster year,” said Swanson. "She was so deserving of all the honors she received. She truly is an outstanding all-around player.”

Yutzy played in every set for MVNU as she compiled career highs of 406 kills, 133 digs, and a team-leading 172 blocks. Myles posted the third-highest dig total in school history with 806 while also leading the team with 803 serve reception attempts and a 98.6 serving percentage.

Porto finished the season with 271 kills and 83 blocks despite playing in only half of the team’s matches. Hewitt added 39 aces and 483 digs as her play helped spark the team in Porto’s absence, and freshman middle hitter Haley Nofziger gained valuable experience as she started in 24 matches and finished with 125 kills and 41 blocks. Freshman setter Lauren Percival (94 assists, 19 aces, and 160 digs), junior outside hitter Abby Smith (11 digs and five aces), and sophomore outside hitter Megan Yoder (12 kills and 13 digs) rounded out the roster for the Lady Cougars.

"We had exceptional team dynamics and this lead to an awesome experience for each player,” said Swanson. "We are very grateful for the attitude and effort of our players throughout the season. We are also grateful for the Lord’s presence on our team. Keeping Christ at the center of what we do makes competing as a team such a rewarding experience.”