United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Volleyball

SALEM, VA.—(11/16/06)—It was fitting that the theme song to the movie Hoosiers was played as the officials and two teams paraded onto the court at the Salem Civic Center before Coast Guard made its first appearance in the NCAA Division III national quarterfinals against Juniata, the top ranked team in the nation, the only team to appear in all 26 NCAA Division III tournaments.

It was a great ride, but all good things, must come to an end and the greatest season in Coast Guard Academy women’s volleyball history did just that as Juniata improved to 39-1 overall and 36-0 against Division III opponents with a 3-0 (30-16, 30-14, 30-23) win over the Bears in the Elite 8.

Coast Guard, which was ranked 25th in the nation in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III poll, saw its school-record 22 match winning streak snapped as the Bears finish the season 26-3.

Juniata scored eight of nine points taking an 11-3 lead in the opening game. The Eagles pushed the lead as many as 15 at 25-10 before winning 30-16.

In game two, the Eagles jumped out to a 6-1 lead. With the score 8-4, Juniata scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a commanding 18-5 lead and the Eagles took the second game 30-14.

Coast Guard put up a fight in the third game, taking an 8-7 lead, but Juniata responded by scoring 11 of the next 13 points taking an 18-10 lead before closing out match with a 30-23 win.

Second team All-America Nicole Gurr led the Bears with 13 kills to finish the season with 498, the second highest single-season total in school history.

Junior Kimberly Jung, an exchange cadet from Army, had five kills and nine digs in her final game at the Coast Guard Academy.

NEWMAC Player of the Year senior co-captain Christine Rostowfske, an All-New England and honorable mention All-America, led the Bears with 23 assists and 11 digs. She finishes her career with a school-record 4,241 assists and 427 games played which is fifth all-time in school history.

The Bears, who advanced to the second round in their three other NCAA Tournament appearances (1995, 1996 and 1997), became the first team in school history to advance to the Elite 8. Coast Guard is now 6-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Coast Guard, the New England regional champions, won the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season championship for the second time in three years and won their first ever NEWMAC tournament championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore first team All-America Amber Thomas led Juniata with 10 kills and 16 digs while AVCA Player of the Year senior Stephanie Kines added nine kills for the Eagles.

Juniata, whose only loss this season came to Division I Princeton, improves to 75-32 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles won the national championship in 2004 and were the national runners up last season.