The Lady Cougars (37-10), who won their pool with a 3-1 mark, squared off with Malone University (31-10) in the semifinals to start the day. After falling 28-26 in the first set, MVNU rallied to take the next three sets 25-23, 25-15, 25-16 to earn the program’s second berth all-time in the NCCAA title match with the other national runner-up finish coming in 2002.

Junior middle hitter Sarah Yutzy (left) led the Lady Cougars with 15 kills and eight blocks against the Lady Pioneers, while junior middle hitter Jackie Albrecht added 14 kills and 21 digs. Senior right-side hitter Courtney Springer tallied 11 kills and 24 digs, and senior setter Kaylin Austen handed out 38 assists to go with 19 digs. Junior libero Caitlin Myles and freshman right-side hitter Kaylee Hewitt posted 24 and 11 digs respectively with Hewitt also serving up a team-high two aces.

"After dropping a close first set and then pulling out a tight second set, we really began to click and were able to post two more wins to advance,” said MVNU coach Paul Swanson. "The goal in this tournament is to make it to the semifinals, play well, and see what happens. We were able to do that against Malone to earn a spot in the finals.”

In the championship match, the Lady Cougars fell 25-13, 25-15, 25-23 to Campbellsville (Ky.) University (38-13), which went a perfect 4-0 in pool play and then 2-0 in the elimination portion of the tournament on its way to capturing its first NCCAA national title.

Albrecht, who was named to the NCCAA All-National Tournament Team for the second straight year, led MVNU with 12 kills and 22 digs, while Austen, who joined Albrecht on the NCCAA All-National Tournament Team for the second straight year, handed out 23 assists and posted 11 digs. Yutzy hammered 10 kills, and Springer totaled five kills, 13 digs, and the team’s only block of the match. Myles also contributed 13 digs.

"(Campbellsville) is a very good squad and played well in this match,” said Swanson. "This was a very competitive tournament, and you had to be playing at a high, consistent level in order to have a chance to win against all the other solid teams. While we are very disappointed that we lost, we know that we accomplished a lot this year and represented ourselves and our university well.”