"Malone"

  The MVNC women's volleyball team extended their NAIA-record home winning streak to 66 straight matches as the Lady Cougars finished their fifth consecutive season unbeaten at home by defeating Malone College 15-6, 15-12, 7-15, 15-8 on Tuesday night.

  The streak, which began on October 24, 1991, is now tied for the second longest volleyball home winning streak regardless of division. Northern Michigan University (NCAA II) had their home winning streak stopped at 66 earlier this season. MVNC now trails only NCAA III Washington (MO) University for the all-time longest streak. The Lady Bears' streak is currently at 100 straight.

  "It is nice to finish unbeaten at home again this year," said MVNC head coach Paul Swanson. "Every year it gets harder and harder to duplicate this feat as teams keep gunning for us. We had several tough matches this season where we were down, but the team kept coming back."

  The match was also the final home performance for the Lady Cougars' captain and only senior, Courtny Testa, who was honored prior to the match. Testa improved her home record to a perfect 51-0 mark with the victory, the most home wins ever for an MVNC player. She also has compiled an overall record of 168-34, again the most wins ever.

  Testa, however, puts all the winning in the proper perspective. "It's nice to know that I went my whole career without losing at home," she said. "Most players cannot say that. More importantly, though, I have grown as a person and a player here at MVNC. I am definitely glad that I came here."

  Testa started things off for the Lady Cougars (34-10, 17-1) in the first game with two blocks and four kills as MVNC built a commanding 13-1 lead. Malone (15-17, 6-11) closed the gap to 13-6, but a kill by Tammy Custer and a serve by Tara Seiter gave the Lady Cougars the 15-6 victory.

  The two teams traded points to 5-5 in the second game before the Lady Pioneers took an 8-5 lead. MVNC ran off the next five points behind the blocking of Seiter and the serving of Rachel Widener. After Malone tied the score at 10-10, Widener pounded three kills and Mandy Metzger added an ace to give the Lady Cougars a 14-10 cushion.

  The Lady Pioneers tried once again to rally as they pulled to 14-12. However, a kill by Seiter gave MVNC the hard-fought 15-12 win.

  Malone jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the third game. The Lady Cougars finally scored a point, but the Lady Pioneers added four more points to balloon their lead to 10-1. After an ace by Custer and a block by Seiter made it 10-3, Malone ran off four more points for a 14-3 lead.

  Seiter and Christa DeLorenzo combined for a block and Erin Weddington served for four points as MVNC pulled to within 14-7. Then, the Lady Pioneers got a sideout and scored the final point to win the game 15-7.

  The Lady Cougars took a commanding 10-3 lead in the fourth game behind the blocking of Testa and Seiter and the hitting of Custer and DeLorenzo. The teams traded points with MVNC holding a 13-7 edge when Becky Jefferys served the lead to 14-7.

  Malone sided out and scored a point to trim the lead to 14-8. After another sideout, Testa recorded a kill to end the match 15-8.

  "Courtny (Testa) has been a solid performer for us throughout her career and it was great to win this match for her," said Swanson. "She played well and showed what a good all-around player she has become."

  Testa finished the match with eight kills and six blocks. Seiter added 11 blocks, 12 kills, and 20 digs for her fourth triple-double of the year, while Widener contributed 10 kills and two blocks. Custer and DeLorenzo finished with eight and five kills respectively, and Metzger served up a team-high two aces.

  MVNC will be back in action on Thursday as they wrap up the regular season at Cedarville College. The Lady Cougars need to win the MOC match to claim a share of the 1996 conference title. Walsh University has already finished MOC play with a 17-1 record.