LCC volleyball to start Sept. 1         

[AUG. 23, 2006]  Lincoln Christian College volleyball coach Kevin Crawford announced that the volleyball season will begin Sept. 1, when the Angels will play host to the 2006 Acordia Volleyball Challenge.

Coming to Lincoln for the two-day tournament will be teams from Ohio Christian University, Ohio; Grace Bible College, Michigan; Grace University, Nebraska; Maranatha Baptist Bible College, Wisconsin; Moody Bible College; Manhattan Christian College, Kansas; and Northland Baptist Bible College, Wisconsin. The teams have a combined total of eight National Christian College Athletic Association championships, 50 regional championships and over 100 all-Americans. The tournament will be in the Laughlin Center on the campus of LCC.

As the season opens, Crawford says he has "no clue" as to how the team will do this year, as LCC will, become an official member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which is composed of 10 NCAA Division III schools.

Crawford, who needs nine wins this season to reach the 700-victory mark in his coaching career (691-291) will be building this year's team around four returning players: Kari McFadden, a 5-foot-9 middle blocker, and Kristina Cook, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, both first-team NCCAA all-Americans from Lincoln; Sarah Nichols, a 5-foot-8 defensive specialist from Mount Pulaski; and Mindy Crawford of Lincoln, the National Libero Player of the Year in 2005.

The veterans will be joined by four newcomers: Adriane Tschantz, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Decatur Christian; Sydney Fort, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker from San Jacinto Christian, Amarillo, Texas; Megan Donnelly, a 5-foot-5 setter from Clinton; and Jodi Ramer, a 5-foot-8 setter and outside hitter from Blue Ridge.

The Lincoln Christian College Angels have placed in the final eight of the NCCAA nationals each of the past 10 years and have two championships (1998 and 2003), a second place, two third-place finishes, and a fourth place.

The varsity roster is available on the LCC volleyball Web pages.

Angel volleyball schedule

(* denotes St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)

• Sept. 1-2 -- Acordia Volleyball Challenge
  Circleville Bible, Grace Bible, Grace University, Manhattan, Maranatha, Moody, and Northland Baptist

• Sept. 5 -- Hannibal-LaGrange College

• Sept. 7 -- St. Louis College of Pharmacy

• Sept. 14 -- Westminster College

• Sept. 16 -- Greenville College

• Sept. 19 -- MacMurray College

• Sept. 20 -- Knox College

• Sept. 23 -- Blackburn College

• Sept. 26 -- Principia College*

• Sept. 28 -- Illinois College

• Sept. 30 -- Westminster College/Eureka College

• Oct. 3 -- Webster University*

• Oct. 5 -- St. Louis College of Pharmacy

• Oct. 10 -- Fontbonne University*

• Oct. 12 -- Monmouth College

• Oct. 14 -- Greenville College*

• Oct. 18 -- Maryville University*

• Oct. 24 -- MacMurray College*

• Oct. 27-28 -- NCCAA Midwest Regional Championship at Moody Bible Institute

• Oct. 30 -- Eureka College*

• Oct. 31 -- Blackburn College*

• Nov. 9-11 -- NCCAA II National Championship at Lincoln Christian College

[LCC news release provided by Jack Getchel, sports information director]

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