Ellendale, ND. – Crown College volleyball was on the road this weekend to compete in the NCCAA DII North Regional Tournament. The Polars won their first match of the day, defeating Trinity Bible College 3-1. In their second match of the night they faced off against Faith Baptist for the NCCAA DII North Region championship, the Polars lost this match 3-0.
The Polars competed well in the first two sets of competition with Trinity Bible. In the first set the Polars trailed the Lions 7-2 but were able to rally back. Crown ended up taking the first set 25-18 despite trailing early. The second set was similar in the fact that the Lions got out to an early lead, going up 7-0 on the Polars. The Polars fought back but were unable to regain the lead, and dropped set number two to the Lions, evening the score out 1-1.
Crown jumped ahead early in the third set and didn't look back, winning the set 25-13. The fourth set was a similar story, once Crown jumped out in front they were able to carry momentum until the set was over, Crown won set number four 25-12, and won the match 3-1 over the Lions.
Emma Bottelberghe led the Polars with 10 kills in the match and
Brooke Rummel led with 13 assists on the night.
Ellie Fuller and Bottelberghe each had 17 digs on the night for the Polars and freshman
Madilyn Smith added four blocks.
Crown battled with the Eagles early in the first set trailing by two points 16-14. From that point on the Eagles were able to maintain the lead and took the first set 25-17. The second set saw Crown have the lead for the majority of it until a couple short runs from the Eagles gave Faith Baptist their first lead of the set 21-20. The Eagles were able to close out the set winning it 25-21. Crown did their best to keep the third set close, but after the Eagles went up 18-13 the Polars weren't able to respond.
The Eagles scored seven straight points to give them the 25-13 set win, and they defeated the Polars 3-0. Fuller had 20 digs and Rummel tallied 17 assists in the second match.
The Polars finished the 2024 season with a 7-17 overall record, and a 1-13 record in UMAC play.
