VOLLEYBALL

Thursday, November 28, 2007 - Columbia, Missouri
NAIA National Championship - Pool Play #3

Sunbirds win Pool A with sweep of No. 10 Northwestern, Iowa

Box score (30-23, 30-19, 30-25)

Columbia, Missouri - The top-seeded Sunbirds wrapped up pool play this afternoon with a 30-23, 30-19, 30-25 sweep of No. 10 seeded Northwestern of Iowa.

The Red Raiders had no answer for Thais Julio. The junior form Sao Paulo, Brazil, pounded 15 kills on 19 swings with no errors for a .789 attack efficiency.

Marin (Shilling) Canaday and Brittany Pierce added 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Tiffany Marinos led all players with 19 digs.

Kaitlin Beaver and Bobbie Jean Rich led Northwestern with 10 kills each.

With the win, the Sunbirds emerge as the top team from Pool A and earned a direct entry into tomorrow's quarterfinals. Their opponent is yet to be determined.

Updated Records
Red Raiders: 30-11, 2-1
Sunbirds: 34-1, 3-0

Updated Series
FPU vs. Northwestern (Iowa): 3-0

Broadcast Notes
* The Sunbirds expect to broadcast today's contest against Northwestern live on the World Wide Web. Josh Banker, voice of the Biola University Eagles, will call the play-by-play action against the Red Raiders. The broadcast will be hosted on the Biola University athletics website. The link is listed below.

Link to Biola University Athletics for FPU vs. Northwestern Iowa (1:30 CST)

* Technical difficulties made it impossible to broadcast today's match from Stephens College as planned. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have better an improved signal from The Sport Court at Columbia College.

* The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship match will all be available on a pay-per-view basis from the NAIA.

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FPU vs. The 2007 National Championship Field
Date Team
Site
Rank
Result
Rec
8/31 Savannah Art & Design (GA)
N
NAIA #10
W 3-0
1-0
9/1 Westminster (Utah)
N
NAIA #25
W 3-1
2-0
9/8 California Baptist
A
NAIA #3
W 3-2
3-0
9/25 Biola
H
NAIA #5
W 3-0
4-0
9/29 National American (S.D.)
N
NAIA #4
W 3-0
5-0
10/6 Concordia
A
NAIA #3
W 3-0
6-0
9/13 California Baptist
H
NAIA #2
W 3-0
7-0
10/31 Biola
A
NAIA #4
L 2-3
7-1
11/10 Concordia
H
NAIA #3
W 3-0
8-1
11/16 Biola
H
NAIA #4
W 3-0
9-1
11/17 California Baptist
H
NAIA #2
W 3-0
10-1
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At a Glance - FPU at the NAIA National Championship
Year
Seed
NCT
Place
Final Match
Final
1989
6
7-1
Champ
Championship: d. Hawaii Pacific (2-0)
46-9
1990
6
2-2
9th (T)
Pool play: did not advance to bracket play
28-17
1991
6
5-2
4th
Third place: L. Northwood, MI (2-3)
34-8
1994
5
5-2
4th
Third place: L. Puget Sound, WA (0-3)
29-9
1995
4
5-1
3rd
Semifinal: L. BYU-Hawaii (1-3)
37-5
1996
2
4-1
5th
Quarterfinal: L. Pt. Loma Nazarene (1-3)
30-5
1997
3
3-2
5th
Quarterfinal: L. Rockhurst, MO (2-3)
31-4
1998
2
3-2
5th
Quarterfinal: L. Columbia, MO (0-3)
33-3
1999
2
6-1
2nd
Championship: L. Columbia, MO (1-3)
24-17
2000
8
3-2
5th
Quarterfinal: L. Dickinson State, ND (2-3)
26-13
2001
5
5-1
3rd (T)
Semifinal: L. Columbia, MO (2-3)
35-4
2002
4
5-1
3rd (T)
Semifinal: L. National American, SD (2-3)
41-2
2003
2
7-0
Champ
Championship: d. Columbia, MO (3-1)
42-2
2004
1
3-2
5th
Quarterfinal: L. Concordia, CA (1-3)
36-3
2005
1
4-1
5th
Quarterfinal: L. California Baptist (1-3)
38-1
2006
2
5-1
2nd
Championship: L. National American (1-3)
36-2
Total
72-22 (16)
 FPU is 72-22 in 16 previous NCT appearances
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