Volleyball nationals offer taste of Plymouth County flavor

The NAIA Volleyball National Championship will get a sweet taste of Plymouth County this week as the 24-team tournament kicks off in Sioux City on Tuesday.

"The [NAIA national] basketball tournament has such great history in Sioux City, and while volleyball is different than basketball, the community really supports the national tournaments," tournament co-director Teresa Magnusson said.

The volleyball national championships will be in Sioux City for two years before the rights go up for grabs again for the 2010 tournament. But Magnusson said, "We will try to bid on it again."

The tournament was most recently hosted in Columbia, Missouri.

Le Mars is in the spotlight this week as Blue Bunny is the title sponsor of the entire championship series.

The local flavor debuts tonight as Primebank sponsors the opening banquet for the 24 participating teams. Monday evening's volley 'ball' gives the teams the chance to intermingle as they enjoy a fancy banquet - or ball - courtesy of Primebank, the banquet sponsor and a presenting sponsor of the tournament.

When pool play begins on Tuesday morning, the local flavor will continue to percolate as several former Plymouth County standouts will compete for Northwestern and Morningside Colleges.

Northwestern - ranked 10th in the country - will kick off tournament action against Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Hinton alum Delainye Hardersen will take the floor with the Red Raiders.

The junior defensive specialist averages 1.4 digs per game as she has notched 169 total digs on the season thus far. She boasts a .978 receiving percentage in the back row and adds a team-high .943 serving percentage with eight aces on the year.

Northwestern comes into the championship series with a 27-7 overall record after posting a perfect 16-0 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) record to take the regular season title.

In the GPAC postseason tournament, the Red Raiders were defeated in the championship game by rival Morningside, who comes into the championship tournament ranked 11th in the country.

The Mustangs - who receive an automatic bid as the host school - feature a pair of local athletes in Hinton's Jamie Vander Kooi and Akron-Westfield's Catie Bobier.

Vander Kooi - a junior outside hitter - is third for the Mustangs with 403 kills on the season - a 3.15 kill per game average. The Hinton alum boasts a .268 attack efficiency while adding 30 total blocks on the season. She is also second on the squad with 572 digs - a 4.5 dig per game average. Vander Kooi added 18 ace serves as she recorded a .959 percentage from the line.

Bobier - a senior outside hitter - averages one kill per game for the Mustangs this season. The A-W alum averaged 2.7 digs per game as she totaled 308 this season. She also boasted a .937 receiving percentage while smacking in 43 ace serves, second on the team. Bobier served at a .908 clip for the Mustangs this season.

Morningside finished its season with a 14-2 GPAC record and a 36-4 overall posting. The Mustangs defeated NW in the postseason GPAC tournament to win the league championship.

Morningside kicks off national tournament play Tuesday night against Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) at 6 p.m.

Two more GPAC squads - Dordt College of Sioux Center and Doane of Nebraska - will play in the tournament as well.

Pool play begins Tuesday and runs through Thursday evening. The 24 teams are divided into six pools, with the top two squads from each pool advancing into a single elimination round beginning Friday and leading to the championship match on Saturday.

Prior to Saturday's championship final, CNOS will sponsor a High School Senior Showcase featuring high school talent from South Dakota and Iowa.

The Plymouth County flavor extends into this showcase match as Le Mars' Kaylee Thompson and Kingsley-Pierson's Briana Schaeuble will compete in the showcase.

"It's a great representation for our volleyball team in Le Mars," Le Mars coach Susan Irwin said of Thompson's selection. "Our team did a great job this year, so it's nice to have someone who is a good leader be out there."

The Senior Showcase will begin shortly after the second semifinal game - which begins at noon and is expected to last until around 2 p.m. - and will feature over 20 girls from the Siouxland area.

The local standouts will compete in several games before a 'championship' competition is played at the end of the showcase block.

According to Magnusson, the girls don't need to be off the court until 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. championship final, so the showcased seniors could see several hours of play.

"It's exciting when you get identified like this," K-P coach Jon Mouw said of Schaeuble's selection. "Obviously there is a lot of very high quality volleyball played in this area, so when you get selected, you are obviously playing well. Briana deserves it and we are all very excited for her. She was our go-to player and she deserves that recognition."

Schaeuble averaged nearly five kills per game as she led the Lady Panthers to the Class 1A state tournament this fall. She also added a team-high 85 blocks and a .821 serving percentage with 60 aces to the K-P effort.

Thompson was the kill leader for the Lady Bulldogs this season, averaging 2.2 kills per game with a .255 attack efficiency. She also added 65 blocks to lead the squad as well as 35 digs, 16 ace serves and a .862 serving percentage on the season.

"This is a great opportunity for Kaylee to be seen [by college coaches] and look for some scholarships," Irwin said.

She added that her whole squad will enjoy seeing the talented spread at the tournament - led by top-ranked Fresno Pacific out of California - as the Lady Bulldogs will be line judges for some pool play games on Wednesday.

"The girls are excited to see some great competition," Irwin said. "It's a good opportunity for us."

The national championship tournament kicks off Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City.