Dec. 4, 2009

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Fourth-seeded Concordia (Calif.) handed fellow Golden State Athletic Conference member and fifth-seeded Azusa Pacific (Calif.) a 25-19, 24-26, 30-28, 25-18, setback Friday to advance to the semifinals of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Presented by Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation in the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.

The Eagles, who are returning to the national championship semifinals for the fourth time in as many years, are now 30-7 on the season and will face the top-seeded defending national champion Fresno Pacific (Calif.) Saturday at 10 a.m. The match will be video-streamed at www.watchnaia.com and live stats will be available here. The Cougars' season comes to a close with a record of 28-9.

Concordia was powered behind the play of Stephanie Darnall, Brooke Marino and Cassie Ells. The trio slammed down 40 of the Eagles 61 kills, recording, 14, 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Ells boasted a .526 hitting percentage in the match. A pair of setters controlled the offense with Vanessa Perry dishing out 24 assists and Renee Horton handing out 22. Serrina Russo was there for the Concordia defense with 20 digs.

Like Concordia, Azusa Pacific also had a trio of players finish with double-figure kills, led by a 20-kill showing from senior Jill Baker. Marguerite Hanna and Whittany Radcliffe also had 12 kills each in the loss. Heather Jones turned in her highest assisted mach of the national championship with 33. Defensively, Robin Portela turned in 20 digs, followed by Baker with 12. Baker's double-double was her third in Sioux City.