For Immediate Release
DALLAS — The Brookhaven College Bears volleyball team entered this year’s National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Volleyball Championship tournament with top ranking and left the tournament still No. 1. The Lady Bears defeated the No. 3 Ridgewater College Warriors in the championship match, Nov. 15, with game scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-22. They swept the tournament with a perfect 9-0 record.
“We are very proud of our accomplishments this season,” said coach Jason Hopkins. “The team worked hard all season long, from the start of our first day of four-a-day practices until the final point scored in the national championship match.” Brooke Shelton, outside, and Holly Kieschnick, middle, both completed the tournament with sprained ankles, Kieschnick from pre-tournament practice and Shelton during the first Friday match against Anne Arundel Community College.”
Callie Martin, setter; Stephanie Sanderson, opposite; and Katie Schlup, outside, were selected for the All-Tournament team and Shelton garnered the tournament’s top honor as Most Valuable Player. Hopkins was named as the 2008 NJCAA Div. III Heidi Hutchinson Coach of the Year, as well as the Div. III Region V Coach of the Year.
The Lady Bears have been at the national tournament for five consecutive years, winning the championship in 2004 and 2005, taking third place in 2006 and fourth place last year. During the 2008 season, the team spent six of the eight weeks at the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA polls and won the Metro Athletic Conference title before heading to the NJCAA tournament.
“The team has had this in their mind all season long, and especially coming in as the number one ranked team in the nation and the number one seed in the tournament,” said Hopkins. “I have to give our sophomore tri-captains, Susan Rodriquez, Kieschnick and Shelton, a lot of credit for leading this team all the way through.”
The 2008 NJCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament was Nov. 14-15, at the University Center Rochester-Sports Center in Rochester, Minn.
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Brookhaven College is proud to be an Hispanic-Serving Institution with more than 25 percent Hispanic student enrollment since 2006. Educational opportunities are offered by Brookhaven College without regard to race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex, disability or sexual orientation. Brookhaven College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate degree. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Brookhaven College.