Volleyball

Morningside College - Home Of The

2008 GPAC Volleyball Tournament Champions

Nelson Named Libero Of The Week

Vander Kooi Named National Player Of The Week

Tjaden Repeats As Setter Of The Week

Tjaden Named GPAC Setter Of The Week

Mustang Spikers Romp To GPAC Semifinals

Jessica Vander Kooi	Lindsay Hansen

Morningside made quick work of Dana in Saturday’s GPAC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals with a 25-10, 25-5, 25-11 sweep in the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center.

It took the Mustangs only 56 minutes to dispose of the Vikings and move on to the GPAC Semifinals, where they will host 20th-ranked Doane College on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30. Morningside, ranked 24th in the nation, will take a 31-6 record into the match.

The Mustangs romped to three lopsided victories in Saturday’s sweep of the Vikings and were especially impressive in their 25-5 second game triumph in a contest where Jessica Tjaden served 13 consecutive points to serve out the game.

Jamie Vander Kooi slammed 13 kills to lead the Mustangs’ attack. The Mustangs’ other leaders were Lindsay Hansen with 10 digs, Tjaden with 16 assists, Monica Iverson with a career-high four ace serves, and Emily Christen with one solo block and three block assists.

Box Score

Nelson Named GPAC Libero Of The Week

Amanda Nelson, a 5-5 senior defensive specialist from Wakefield, Neb., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Libero of the Week for Oct. 5-11.

Nelson averaged 5.67 digs per game in Morningside victories against Dana College and Briar Cliff University. She was also perfect on serve reception and service attempts in the two matches.

She had 25 digs to help lead Morningside to a 3-0 sweep of Briar Cliff last Saturday for the Mustangs’ second highest dig total of the season in a three-game match.

Vander Kooi Is NAIA Player Of The Week; Tjaden Is GPAC Setter Of The Week

Jamie Vander Kooi	Jessica Tjaden

Jamie Vander Kooi, a 5-9 senior outside hitter from Hinton, Iowa, has been named the NAIA National Volleyball Player of the Week and the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Player of the Week for Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.

In addition to Vander Kooi, the Mustangs’ Jessica Tjaden, a 5-8 junior setter from Julesburg, Colo., is this week’s GPAC Setter of the Week.

Vander Kooi averaged 4.50 kills and 4.67 digs per game in the Mustangs’ victories against 15th-ranked Bellevue University, Dakota Wesleyan University, and the University of Sioux Falls as the 14th-ranked Mustangs improved their record to 24-2. She slammed 26 kills for the Mustangs’ top individual total of the season to lead Morningside to a 3-2 win at Bellevue and had a season’s high 24 digs to set a Morningside three-game match record by a non-libero in a 3-0 win against Sioux Falls.

Vander Kooi is averaging a team-high 3.82 kills and 4.22 digs per game and leads the Mustangs with 17 double figure kill performances and 14 kill/dig double-doubles.

Tjaden averaged 12.08 assists and 3.42 digs per game in the Mustangs’ three victories. She contributed 58 assists and 16 digs in the Mustangs’ win at Bellevue.

Tjaden received the GPAC Setter of the Week honor for the third time this season.

Tjaden Repeats As GPAC Setter Of The Week

Jessica Tjaden, a 5-8 junior setter from Julesburg, Colo., is the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Setter of the Week for the second week in a row.

Tjaden averaged 11.45 assists per game to help lead the Mustangs to four victories in their five matches last week. She also had 60 digs for an average of 3.00 per game.

She had season’s highs of 61 assists and 22 digs to go along with three ace serves when the Mustangs defeated Black Hills State University 3-2 at last weekend’s Hastings College Tournament as the Mustangs avenged a loss against the Yellow Jackets at the 2008 NAIA National Tournament.

Tjaden Named GPAC Setter Of The Week

Jessica Tjaden, a 5-8 junior setter from Julesburg, Colo., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Setter of the Week after she helped lead the Mustangs to four victories in as many matches at last weekend’s College of Saint Mary Classic in Omaha, Neb.

Tjaden dealt 156 assists for an average of 13.0 per game in the Mustangs’ 3-0 wins against Haskell Indian Nations University, College of Saint Mary, Hannibal-LaGrange College, and Tabor College. She had a season’s high 44 assists in the win against College of Saint Mary.

Her statistics also included 10 ace serves and 42 digs for an average of 3.50 digs per contest. Tjaden had a season’s high 13 digs in the win against College of Saint Mary and had a season’s high seven ace serves against Haskell Indian Nations.