WEST PLAINS, Mo. – After a two-year absence from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women’s National Volleyball Championship Tournament, the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team is returning to this pinnacle event.

The Grizzlies (25-9) punched their ticket to the Nov. 15-17 tournament at the West Plains Civic Center by defeating Jefferson College, Hillsboro, Mo., 25-17, 25-15, 25-19 in the NJCAA Region 16 Tournament Saturday afternoon and Harford Community College, Bel Air, Md., 25-6, 25-5, 25-5 in the NJCAA District N Championship match Saturday evening in Park Hills, Mo.

This is the first year in recent history the Region 16 winner did not receive an automatic berth to the national tournament.  Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said NJCAA officials decided to change the postseason playoff qualification for the national tournament by joining Region 16 (all of Missouri) with Regions 15 (southern New York and Long Island) and 20 (parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland) to create District N, with the district champion receiving the automatic berth.  As a result, the Grizzlies had to play one extra match this season to reach the national tournament.

The extra court time didn’t seem to phase the Grizzlies at all.  “We were very focused.  The things we worked on through the week and the way the team acted around each other on and off the floor, they made the difference.  We weren’t just going through the motions,” Wiedemann said.

The Grizzlies set the tone for the day with their solid performance against Jefferson.  “We played at a very high level.  As a team, we hit .381, averaged almost 19 digs per game and blocked pretty well.  We took care of the ball and each other,” the coach said.

Leading the way was sophomore right side attacker Candyce Alexander, who recorded a phenomenal .692 attacking percentage with nine kills off 13 attempts with no errors.  “Candyce had her best match of the year.  She not only took good swings, she also dug the ball well.  She’s such a fiery player, and when she’s playing well, it’s exciting to watch her and the team,” Wiedemann said.

Freshman outside attacker Helena Peric recorded the most kills with 17 and points earned with 17.5, and freshman setter Sarah Stretch led the team in assists with 40.  Freshman middle attacker Torika Baleilekutu led the team in digs with 11, and sophomore middle attacker Magda Zietek led the team in blocks with two.  Freshman libero Victoria Williams had the best passing rating at 2.8.

“This win was a total team effort,” Wiedemann said.  “We had efficiency on offense and on defense.  We only had 12 hitting errors on 44 kills and 84 attempts, and the errors we made were good errors.  We dug the ball well and blocked well, we ran a good offense, and we got a lot of swings off our transition defense.  They did a great job.”

All-Region 16 Team honorees were announced following the match, and four Grizzlies, Peric, Swayzer, Baleilekutu and Stretch, were selected to the first team.  Alexander and Williams were named to the second team, and Wiedemann received Region 16 Coach of the Year honors.

The District N Championship match was the first ever postseason action for Harford’s Fighting Owls.  “They were 17-7 going into the match and had won their region for the first time ever.  They were pretty excited about being there, so we weren’t going to take them for granted,” Wiedemann said.

But the match turned into a one-sided affair pretty quickly.  The Grizzlies dominated the floor, both offensively and defensively.  As a team, they hit .600, recording 38 kills on 60 attempts with only two errors.  They averaged over 13 digs per game, six total blocks and seven service aces.“We were playing well earlier in the day, and we continued to play well,” Wiedemann said.  “We played respectfully, but we didn’t back off.”

Peric led the team in kills with 12, and Zietek led the team in attacking percentage with .833.  Stretch had a team-leading 34 assists, and Alexander paced the Grizzlies in digs with 13 and blocks with two, including one solo.  Williams again led the team in serve receive with 2.5, and sophomore outside attacker Taylor Swayzer led the team in aces with three.

Wiedemann said she was “very excited” the Grizzlies will get to experience the national tournament on their home court, noting this is the last year Missouri State-West Plains will host the event.  “The pressure some of the players were feeling, knowing what it’s like to be here during the national tournament and not be in it, it really hit home for some of them last year,” the coach said.  “There’s value in such lessons, though.  They’ve proven something to themselves, and they’re doing the things I’ve known they were capable of doing all along.

Getting to the tournament is one thing, the coach said.  “This isn’t the end of the road.  There’s no limit to what this team can accomplish.  They can continue to get better, even through the tournament.  How they come together, how they handle adversity on the court, that will determine how far they go in the tournament.”

For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, including a copy of the 2012 schedule, visit the team’s website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/vb/.