Sterling College

Three Sterling College Volleyball players, senior Christy Carter of East Lansing, MI, senior Lora Faust of Aurora, CO and Mariah Smith of Sterling, KS were named NAIA-Daktronics All-Scholar Athletes following the 2007 Volleyball season.

These student-athletes must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have achieved junior academic status to qualify 3.5 GPA or higher through their junior year at Sterling. Carter is an International Business major, Faust is a fifth year senior is majoring in Biology and Social Science while Smith is a Business Administration major. All three of these student-athletes will graduate in April.

Another Sterling College volleyball player earned regional honors this past season was Grace Friedman. Friedman was named to the NAIA Region IV second team following the 2007 season. Friedman a native of Arvada, CO was also a Unanimous First Team All-KCAC performer this season.

Grace is majoring in Education and Exercise Science at Sterling College.

Junior Grace Friedman was named to the 2007 ALL-KCAC Volleyball team this past week released by the conference coaches.

The 6'0 middle hitter from Arvada, Colorado was a Unanimous pick by the KCAC coaches for her efforts in leading the Warriors. Friedman a junior, led the warriors in kills this season with 276, 2.85 per game. Friedman was also second on the team in blocks per game with .8

Freidman is an Exercise Science major at Sterling College.

Senior Lora Faust also garnered recognition by the KCAC coaches as she was named to the second team for her contributions. Faust a 6'0 setter from Aurora, Colorado led the Warriors in assist with 753 on the season.

Faust is double majoring at Sterling in Psychology and Biology.

The Sterling College Warrior Volleyball team finished the season with an 11-16 record and a 7-11 mark in the KCAC.

After two matches of tense excitement and demanding KCAC action against Friends University and Tabor College, the Warrior volleyball team concluded their season last Thursday at home against Bethany College after falling in three games.

Against Friends University last Saturday, the Warriors played a match similar to their domination over McPherson the week before (which also ended 3-1 in favor of the Warriors). The team began with a hard, fast win 30-21, followed by another, 30-23. Friends began their kick in game three, winning 24-30. The last game showed an exciting point-for-point struggle where each team fought to emerge the winner. After seven excruciating points, Warrior volleyball wrestled away a win from Friends, final score 37-35.
Balogh said, "It was a great game to coach. It is always our goal to work hard and have fun; we did that to the extreme [against Friends]."

The matches against Tabor and Bethany proved to be much more difficult and emotional for the team, ending 1-3 and 0-3 respectively.

Though the season's end was bittersweet with two wins and two losses, the team has great expectations for next year. As junior Grace Friedman said, "Next year, it's exciting because we have a lot of returners who get things done."

Two Warrior volleyball players received All-KCAC honors for the year. Friedman was a first-team unanimous selection and senior setter Lora Faust made the second all-conference team. Postseason honors and moments like winning over Bethel and Friends made the season one to remember for Warrior volleyball.

The Warrior volleyball team, amped with momentum from this past week's conference wins, gets ready to play two more matches at home and one on the road.

October 22 the team got on the court ready to play against Southwestern College, where they made short work of the Moundbuilders in three games. The match flew by, with scores of 30-20, 30-20, 30-27. The front row shared the ball amongst their hitters, who pounded down 26 kills.

The levelheadedness of the players and their drive to win did not go unnoticed. Head coach Melvin Balogh said, "It was good to see us play with energy and control."

The match was also good experience for a large number of players to see game time. According to Balogh, "It was exciting to see our young players on the court."

After Southwestern, Warrior volleyball stayed home to play the McPherson College Bulldogs on Wednesday. The team brought a lot of excitement to Gleason with a 3-1 win for the match.
The first game began with a tense 31-29 win for the Bulldogs, but the team was resilient and won the next three 30-25, 30-17 and 30-19.

Big play in the front row made the match an exciting one to watch. Three players had kill counts in the triple digits—junior Grace Friedman with 19, sophomore Staci Curry with 13 and freshman Kyla Renfro with 10. And senior setter Lora Faust did her fair share to make those kills happen with 51 assists on the night.

Overall, Balogh seemed pleased with the match. "It was a match that we need to bring our top game to the court," he said. "We made too many unforced errors early in the match but did a great job of bouncing back each time and making multiple runs."

The excitement of the last two wins will give Warrior volleyball a boost as they head into their next three conference games.

This Saturday (Oct. 27), volleyball will play at home against Friends University for "Family Day", a day that players can enjoy the day as well as the match with their family. The prep team will play at 6 p.m., and varsity's first serve will fly at 7 p.m.

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, Warrior volleyball hits the road to a KCAC game against Tabor College in Hillsboro. Prep starts at 6 p.m., varsity at 7 p.m.

And to appreciate all of the wonderful leadership, the team will host Bethany College for "Senior Night", which will take place Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
Join Warrior volleyball in honoring their family and seniors during the next week as they come home to enjoy their Sterling fans.

After two away conference matches, the Warrior volleyball team loaded up the bus once again to play Bethel College in Newton on Monday.

Striving against a big KCAC rival, the Warriors "played a great match," said head coach Melvin Balogh. The first game brought a 22-30 defeat for Sterling College, the second an 18-30 loss. But the volleyball team brought a burst of power to the match with a strong 30-25 third game, only to fall after a tight heartbreaking last game, 29-31.

Junior Shannon Kirby and sophomore Staci Curry both stepped up to the net big with 10 kills apiece, with senior Christy Carter, junior Grace Friedman and sophomore Bailey Fricks trailing behind with nine, eight and seven kills, respectively.

Curry also saw another number 10 in her stats with 10 digs, showing versatility in the front and back row. Junior Denyse Inman also saw 10 digs on the game and Carter had nine. Senior setter Lora Faust put up 41 assists for the match.

Balogh said that he was glad the girls were playing with some consistency: "We played a great match. It was exciting to see us play "our game" no matter what, up by 10 and down by 10."

See the Warriors in action at home Oct. 10 against Ottawa University at 7 p.m., then again on Oct. 13 against the University of Saint Mary at 1 p.m.

Story by Alyssa Renfro

After a difficult away match at Bethany College, Warrior volleyball now stands with a 4-3 KCAC record.

The Warriors won one of four fairly tight games against the Swedes. They came out swinging in the first game with a narrow 29-31 margin, fell back again in the second game 19-30, and fought hard for a third game victory of 32-30. In the last game, however, the Warriors ran out of steam for a difficult 18-30 loss.

Three of the Warriors saw double digits in kills: junior Grace Friedman with 14, sophomore Staci Curry 13 and senior Christy Carter with 12.

Additionally, junior Denyse Inman took her responsibility as libero seriously with 37 digs on the match, keeping the ball in the air for much of the game.

Head coach Melvin Balogh said of the team, "We played a great match. We kept the ball off the floor with great defense, served strong with low errors and played at the net well. We just made a few more mistake then we would have liked."

Story by Alyssa Renfro

"It was a tight match. As a team we played well, our ball control was good and we served much better then previous matches. Friends came out strong in games four and five. We had a solid performance but just came up short."

Head volleyball coach Melvin Balogh's words are his reflections on the match between Sterling College and Friends University Sept. 29.

The Warriors took an early lead, winning the first game by a close 30-24. In the second, the Falcons started pushing back, winning that game 26-30. In the third game, the Warriors were back on top, 30-23. But since the two teams were well-matched, the fourth game went to Friends after a hard fight, 27-30.

The fifth game brought a heartbreaker in 15 points, with Friends on top, 8-15.
Highlights of the game included 16 kills by junior Grace Friedman and an astounding 26 digs from junior Denyse Inman.

The prep team also played well but fell short, losing 2-1. Balogh said, "Junior setter Jeannie Wallenburg did a great job of running the offense and freshmen Jaclyn Coxwell had a great evening with strong play at the net."

Overall, the program saw two tough games, doing well as a unit. As Balogh said, "It was nice to see our whole program playing well and having fun."