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Charleston, WV -- The 2019 Raider volleyball team defeated third ranked Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College Saturday afternoon to finish in 5th Place at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.  The 5th place finish ranks the second best in program history, after their 2012 National Championship. They had finished in sixth place twice, including last year.  It was their 10th trip to Nationals since Head Coach Chip Will took over the program in 2007.

The Raiders, seeded tenth in the tournament, squared off Thursday morning in their first round match against seven seeded Northeast Community College of Nebraska.  The Raiders got off to a slow start, trailing by as many as seven points (14-7), but responded with a 9-2 run to tie it all up in the opening set.  Both teams traded leads but it was the Raiders who would prevail after Dani Johnston's sixth of kill of the set, 25-23.  Northeast had the lead briefly in the beginning of the second set, but the Raiders would cruise to a 25-18 win.  In the third, the Raiders jumped out to a 7-1 lead, never looked back and completed the sweep 25-23.

Johnston (Comstock Park, MI) led the Raiders with 13 kills and added nine digs and three aces. All-Conference Middle, Kylie Oberlin (Fruitport, MI), had six kills and three blocks.  All-Region Right Side/Outside Annie Holesinger (Rockford, MI) had five kills and a team leading seven blocks.

The Raiders opening round victory set up a Thursday night match against the 2nd ranked and back to back National Champion, Coffeyville Community College Red Ravens, whom had lost just twice all season.  The defending champions would lead by as many as nine (17-8), but the relentless Raiders would fight all the way back and would nearly pull off the incredible comeback.  A five point Raider run gave them a set point, 25-24, but Coffeyville responded with two in a row and would eventually take the set 29-27.  Set two was dominated by the Red Ravens (25-15), and although set three was tight, Coffeyville would finish off the sweep 25-20 to advance to the final four.

Once again it was the All-Region outside, Johnston, who would lead the team in points scored, with 10 kills, one ace and one solo block.  Lauren Jonker (Grand Haven, MI) had 5 kills and hit .714 while Jasmine Wellet (Coldwater, MI) had four kills and a team best nine digs.

Friday afternoon the Raiders matched up with friendly foe McHenry County College of Illinois in the consolation bracket. McHenry (seeded 11th) upset their first round opponent as well before falling to the eventual national champion Scottsdale Artichokes in their second match.  In a very tight match, the Raiders would sweep the McHenry Scots 25-20, 25-20, 26-24 to advance to Saturday's 5th place match.

Johnston, named to the All-Tournament team when it was all said and done, led the team for the third straight match with 14 kills, hitting .270 and picked up three aces.  All-Conference setter, Jamie Wellet (Coldwater, MI), had a team high 19 assists, five aces, ten digs and even had three kills. Mykayla Vallad (Rockford, MI) led the team with 19 digs.

For the second straight year, the Raiders would have a chance at a fifth place finish on Saturday and this time it would be against third ranked Fort Scott Community College, who finished runner up to Coffeyville in maybe the toughest league in the nation, the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The Raiders knew they would have their hands full and that they did, but in the end it was underdogs coming back from a 2-1 deficit to win 12-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 15-10.

The Raiders got huge contributions from All-Conference Setter/Right Side, Jamie Rozell (Grand Rapids, MI) who finished with seven kills, a team high 24 assists, eight digs, and five blocks, including the set ender in the fourth set. Outside Hitter, Emma Pachulski (Saranac, MI) finished her volleyball career with a superb eight kill (.286) seven dig performance.  Oberlin led all Raiders with 12 kills while hitting .310 and adding three blocks.  MCCAA Western Conference Freshman of the Year, Holesinger, finished with 11 kills and two big solo blocks.

In the Raiders ten trips to nationals, they have now finished in the top 10 seven times.  This year's group of seven sophomores finish off their careers with an overall record of 64-15, including 30-2 in the conference.  They also won the conference, MCCAA and district titles both years.

Statistical Leaders for entire tournament:

Kills: Johnston 45, Holesinger 28, Oberlin 26, Jasmine Wellet 19, Pachulski 13.
Aces: Johnston 8, Jamie Wellet 7, Vallad 3.
Digs: Vallad 69, Jasmine Wellet 43, Jamie Wellet 41, Johnston 30.
Assists: Jamie Wellet 70, Carmean 33, Rozell 26.
Blocks: Holesinger 13, Oberlin 9, Rozell 7, Wickerink 7, Johnston 5.

Post Season Awards

Stay tuned for all the latest information on signees, All-American awards, and other news: