MVNU got the season under way by winning all four of its matches at the Judson (Ill.) University Tournament. Then, the Lady Cougars upset Capital University, ranked 16th in NCAA Division III, in front of 1,200 fans in the team’s home opener as head coach Paul Swanson notched his 800th win at MVNU.

The team rattled off seven more wins to improve to 12-0 before falling to NAIA No. 13 Georgetown (Ky.) College at the Best of the Best Tournament. However, the Lady Cougars bounced back from the loss to defeat Cedarville University and take third place in the tournament.

The win over Cedarville started a 23-match winning streak for MVNU as the Lady Cougars began a steady climb up the NAIA poll that culminated at No. 13 over the final three weeks - the highest ranking ever in the program’s history. During this stretch, MVNU won the National Christian College Athletic Association East Region title - the Lady Cougars’ 16th in 17 seasons - and topped the 30-win mark for the 15th straight year.

MVNU also clinched the AMC South Division title - the seventh conference title in school history - despite dropping the team’s final regular-season match at No. 24 Walsh University to finish with an 11-1 conference mark.

As the AMC South Division regular-season champs, the Lady Cougars earned the right to host the AMC/NAIA Region IX Tournament with an automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament on the line. MVNU defeated Point Park (Pa.) University and Malone College in pool play before knocking off Walsh in the semifinals. Then, the Lady Cougars captured the tournament title and earned their first-ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament by defeating Malone for the fifth time this season. The win also gave MVNU a perfect 19-0 record at home in the friendly confines of the Physical Education Center.

At the NAIA National Tournament in Columbia, Missouri, the Lady Cougars were very competitive in the program’s first appearance despite losing all three pool play matches. MVNU took NAIA No. 21 Madonna (Mich.) University to five games before losing and also went five games with Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University, who received votes in the final poll. Then, the Lady Cougars closed out the season with a good showing against third-ranked Concordia (Calif.) University as the scores were 20-30, 26-30, 27-30.

“It has been a very blessed season,” said MVNU head coach Paul Swanson, who improved his NAIA all-time wins record to 849-302 in 25 seasons of coaching - 24 of which have come with the Lady Cougars. “The Lord blessed us with excellent team dynamics, with tremendous personal and spiritual growth, with awesome memories, and with outstanding success on the court.”

“This team has exceeded all expectations,” Swanson added. “The expectations at the beginning of the year were optimistically good, and this team has overachieved as much as any team in MVNU history. We were a very strong back row, ball-control team, we served smart and strong, we played very well in the clutch, and we competed with confidence in ourselves and in each other.”

Individually, several players had outstanding seasons to lead the Lady Cougars to their record-setting season that included setting a new team record for highest assists per game average (13.53), tying the record for fewest losses (5), and just missing the school record for best serve reception percentage (93.2 percent compared to the record of 93.3 percent set in 2005).

Senior middle hitter Shena Beheler wrapped up her stellar career by leading the team with 693 kills and 231 blocks as she set school records for kills per game (4.68) and blocks per game (1.56). She also compiled 42 aces and 455 digs. For her career, she finishes as the school’s all-time leader in kills (2,777) and kills per game (4.12), ranks second in blocks (968) and serve attempts (2,855), fourth in aces (203), and ninth in both serve reception attempts (2,304) and digs (1,556).

Senior libero Tiffany Milburn also capped off her fine career by leading the team in digs (800), aces (60), serve reception attempts (1,152), and serve reception percentage (95.1) as she also set the school record for digs per game (5.33). For her career, she finishes as the program’s all-time leader in digs (2,556) and serve reception attempts (3,902), ranks third in aces (204), fourth in serve reception percentage (93.5), and seventh in serve attempts (2,611).

“Shena and Tiffany rose to the occasion and both had awesome seasons as players, leaders, and Christian examples,” said Swanson of his two seniors.

Junior outside hitter Audrey Hickinbotham finished with 367 kills, 51 aces, and 195 digs, while sophomore right-side hitter Courtney Springer added 412 kills, 450 digs, 42 aces, and 79 assists. Sophomore middle hitter Stephanie Zollars also contributed 236 kills and 144 digs, and sophomore setter Kaylin Austen handed out 1,799 assists at a school-record 12.07 assists per game clip to go with 311 digs. Meanwhile, freshman middle hitter Jackie Albrecht registered 404 kills, 391 digs, and 147 blocks in her first collegiate season.

Freshman setter Caitlin Myles (44 assists, 8 aces, 78 digs) and freshman middle hitter Sarah Yutzy (57 kills and 20 blocks) both provided depth for the Lady Cougars off the bench. Freshman outside hitter Emily Walsh (18 kills and 47 digs), sophomore middle hitter Julie Haumschild, and freshman outside hitter Abby Smith rounded out the roster for MVNU.

“I am very grateful to each player for their dedication, attitudes, hard work, support of each other, and desire to include the Lord in all we do,” said Swanson. “This was a fun season to be a part of.”