MHicks posted on December 05, 2008 11:53
SIOUX CITY, Iowa—The University of Mobile volleyball team salvaged a victory on the final day of pool play at the 2008 NAIA Volleyball National Championships Thursday afternoon.
The Rams (34-5) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Dordt 3-2 (19-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 15-12). Columbia and Azusa Pacific will advance to bracket play out of Mobile’s pool. Whitney Knight led the Lady Rams with 23 kills, while Nicole Stokes posted 46 assists and 12 digs. Cassy Johnson led the way with 9 blocks as the Lady Rams out-blocked the Defenders 17-5.
Dordt opened the match by taking set one, leading the entire way after the score was 3-2. Mobile pulled within two about midway through the set at 15-13, but the Dordt Defenders reeled off the next five points to get some breathing room.
The second set saw the Mobile duo of Cassy Johnson and Whitney Knight combine for 9 kills to help key the 25-18 victory. Trailing 10-9, Mobile went on a 12-5 run to pull ahead 21-15. Knight’s 10th kill of the match finished it off 25-18 in favor of the Lady Rams.
Set No. 3 looked like Dordt would seize all momentum with a brilliant rally after the Lady Rams pulled ahead 17-11 late. From there, Dordt went on an explosive 9-0 run to go ahead 20-17 and take control of the set.
Despite being down 2-1 after blowing the late lead, the Lady Rams rose up and pulled out 25-21 and 15-12 wins over the final two sets to finish pool play with a 1-2 record.
This was Mobile’s second straight appearance at the NAIA National Championships, in only the program’s fourth season of competition. It is also the third straight 30-win season for the Lady Rams.