LUBBOCK, Texas (November 14, 2009) - It appeared Oklahoma Baptist University was well on their way to their first NAIA Volleyball National Championship appearance in program history, leading 8-3 in the third set after winning the opening two sets of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament  Championship Match over host Lubbock Christian University, but the No.20 Lady Chaparrals never surrendered.  LCU came back to win the set 25-22 and marched on to win the fourth and fifth sets for a come-from-behind title winning 3-2 victory (15-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-12) to claim their seventh trip to the NAIA National Championship, which begins with Opening Round play November 21st.

Oklahoma Baptist also had a chance to claim the match in the fifth set, as they held a 12-11 lead after an 8-3 run to surge from an 8-4 deficit, but LCU closed the match on a 4-0 run with a kill by All-Tournament Most Valuable Player Elissa Loynes and a trio of Oklahoma Baptist attack errors.  Two of the errors were by Tamy Leipelt, who had a strong performance despite the errors with a match-high 22-kill performance.  She also had 24 digs to complete the double-double.

The Lady Bison came into the match with momentum riding a seven-match win streak, which included a 3-0 win at LCU a week ago.  It showed at the start, as OBU opened the match with a 12-4 lead in the opening set.  Loynes had seven kills in the opening set for LCU, but they couldn't break the serve of Sabra Clark, who served 12 times in the set.  OBU closed the set on a 6-1 run for a 25-15 set win.  LCU led the second set 15-10, but they let the lead slip away. The Lady Chaps committed ten attack errors during a 15-5 Lady Bison run, and OBU claimed the second set 25-20.

The Lady Chaps started their comeback march in the third set while trailing 8-3.  A 10-5 LCU run knotted the set up at 13-13.  Teams traded points for a while, leading to 12 ties and four lead changes during the set.  With the set tied 22-22, LCU received a kill from Kelsey Odell and a pair from Bailey Jones to close the set with a 25-22 win.  LCU never trailed in the fourth set, cruising to a 25-14 set win, which had the vocal Rip Griffin Center crowd on their feet cheering the entire three minutes between sets.

Teams combined for 58 kills and 221 digs in the match.  Three different players received double-doubles.  OBU's Chassie Hamilton (14 kills, 14 digs) joined Leipelt, while LCU's Jordan Goings contributed 51 assists and 34 digs.  Courtney Yonke provided 34 of LCU's 107 digs and now has 2,873 career digs to rank fourth all-time among NAIA career leaders.  She is ten digs away from passing former Cedarville (Ohio) player Libby Short Aker for third all-time.  The Lady Chaps produced a season-high 12 blocks in the match, with freshman Caitlin Kender getting a career-best and individual season-high seven blocks.

OBU leaves Lubbock with a 31-10 record, with an outside chance of an at-large berth to the NAIA National Championship.  LCU (26-5) claims their seventh consecutive automatic birth into the NAIA National Championship and their second under head coach Jennifer Lawrence.  The Lady Chaps finished in the Elite Eight last season, matching their best championship appearance in program history.  Thirty-six (36) teams will qualify for the 30th Annual NAIA Volleyball National Championship (Presented by Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation), with 12 teams receiving automatic berths to the Final Site (Sioux City, Iowa) and 24 teams receiving bids to the Opening Round.  The Opening Round is hosted by 12 qualifiers at on-campus locations, with the 12 winning programs joining the 12 automatic qualifiers at the Final Site.  The NAIA will announce the 36 qualifiers and the Opening Round pairings Sunday evening.  LCU is expected to host an Opening Round match, and if granted, LCU has tentatively scheduled the match for 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 21st.

ALL-SAC TOURNAMENT TEAM

Elissa Loynes (MVP) - Lubbock Christian

Courtney Yonke - Lubbock Christian

Tamy Leipelt - Oklahoma Baptist

Sabra Clark - Oklahoma Baptist

Xiaoting Ma - Oklahoma City

Jennifer Wyatt - Wayland Baptist