St. Paul, MN--The Lady Lions entered Friday’s competition with their backs against the wall. Sitting in last in their pool with a 0-2 record, the Lions needed to defeat #4 Southwestern Assemblies of God Univ. to force a three-way tie for second place. Adding to the challenge was the loss of setter Deborah Lowery, the Lions assist-leader, with a shoulder injury. Coach Sayles made last-minute adjustments to the lineup, to set up a 5-1 offense with Hannah Suits playing through the entire lineup.

     The Lions fell behind early in game one, but after a timeout at 7-3, the Lions seemed to find their offensive rhythm. Smart play at the net and aggressive defensive play allowed the Lions to pull out the first game 30-23. Game two saw the teams trade points, before the Lady Lions were able to establish control. The SWAG Lions fought their way back into the game, forcing extra points before Bryan pulled out a gritty 34-32 win. Southwestern took an early lead in Game 3, but again the Lions fought. Down 8-3, the team chipped away at the lead, finally catching SWAG at 19. Bryan appeared ready to put the game away by building a 6-point lead, but Southwestern’s players refused to give up, pulling within 1 at 28-27. Bryan pulled out a closely contested 30-27 game to win the match and force a 3-team playoff. Gabrielle Claxton led the Lions with 16 kills, followed by Amber Smith’s 11. Hannah Suits dished out 39 assists in the win, while Kathryn Rawley tallied 18 digs and Alison Young added 17. Kaylin Carswell played an outstanding all-around game, giving 6 kills, 7 digs, and 3 assisted blocks, while Lauren Pratt was very steady in the middle. Leah White took on the role of “service-master,” with 4 aces in her final match.

     In the 30-point tie-breaker game, the Lions again traded points and were tied at 8-8 before the SWAG team seemed to find holes in the Lions’ defense. Though they fought valiantly, the Lions could not mount an effective counter-attack. Southwestern served tough, keeping the Lions off-balance, and slowly pulled away for a 30-23 victory to advance to the 2^nd tie-breaker against Northwestern and the chance to move on to Saturday’s national semifinal match. Both offenses were effective, with the Lions hitting .417 and SWAG .528. 

     “Our ladies showed tremendous heart throughout this post-season,” commented Bryan’s head coach Leo Sayles. “We set out to accomplish so much, and the team continued to focus on our goals even as several key players were sidelined through the post-season. To think we ended the season using an offense we have not utilized in two seasons to accommodate the injury, and at times had 4 or 5 freshmen in there in heated post-season competition. The ladies were asked to do the improbable, and they nearly pulled off an incredible run at the National tournament. I am proud of every one of my players, am happy we were able to cap off two tremendous careers at the national tournament, and look forward to a bright future with these young ladies!”

     The Lady Lions finished an impressive season with a 24-17 record, and accomplished more than any team in Bryan history. Seniors Kathryn Rawley and Leah White, in their four seasons at Bryan, saw the team turn-around after going 22-41 their first two seasons to accomplishing a 51-31 record with many accolades their final two seasons.   The 2007 Lions were AAC Conference tournament finalists, NAIA Region XII finalists, advanced to the NCCAA Championships for the first time in 20 years, and won the first match in Bryan history at a national championship event.