Coach Whitehead post-game video
Sioux City, Iowa – Evangel won their first of three round-robin volleyball matches at the NAIA National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa with a 3-1 win over eighth ranked and defending national champion Park (Mo.) on Tuesday.
The Crusaders lost the opening set 25-18, but rebounded to win the next three, 25-19, 25-23 and 25-20.
Evangel rallied from an 8-3 deficit in the second set to win 25-19. The Crusaders went on an 11-1 run to take a 14-10 lead and helped even the match at 1-1.
The Crusaders took a 2-1 lead in the match winning the third set 25-23. Evangel got four straight points on Chloe Hadley serves that brought the Crusaders from down 22-20 to set point. A kill by Micah Guiot closed out the set, 25-23.
Evangel then pulled away in the fourth set outscoring Park 9-4 after a 16-16 tie. Haley Watson had four kills during the run including one at match point that gave the Crusaders the win.
During the match, libero Morgan Smith set an Evangel all-time record for digs. Smith's 18th dig of the match gave her 1,951 in her career passing Kristina Mooney (2004-07) on the all-time list. Smith broke the record in three seasons. The Nixa native played her first season at Missouri S & T.
Evangel improved to 39-5 and 1-0 in Pool E of the national tournament. Park dropped to 24-9 and 0-1 in the tournament.
The Crusaders play their second round-robin game tomorrow at 1 p.m. against #5 Biola (Calif.) at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa.
