North Alabama won its first Division II Women's Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 victory over Concordia-St. Paul at Cal State San Bernardino December 6.

North Alabama beat the Golden Bears, 30-24, 30-28, 30-22, and ended its season with a 33-7 record. Concordia-St. Paul, which finished the season at 32-4, was making its first appearance in the tournament.

All-American Yana Ninova delivered 22 kills, giving her 80 in three matches to lead the Lions. Vanessa Ferretti added 12 kills. All-American Ashley Moffitt came through with 47 assists, and her sister, Amy, had 13 digs at the libero position.

North Alabama, which ranks third nationally in kills per game, drilled 54 of them during the championship game, compared to 36 for Concordia. The team hit .309, well above its season average of .294, and had 50 assists, compared to 36 for Concordia.

"We played great tonight," said North Alabama coach Matt Peck, who enjoyed his first national title in nearly 20 years of collegiate coaching. "I think that we played better each day of the tournament and had a different player step up in each match."

Since becoming the coach at North Alabama in 1995, Peck has led the team to 312 victories against only 61 losses.

Ninova, who closed out her collegiate career with the national championship, said, "I'm grateful for my teammates and my coaches and couldn't think of a better way to finish my four-year career here."

Concordia-St. Paul coach Brady Starkey, who completed his rookie season of coaching the Golden Bears, was disappointed with the outcome, despite his team's successful run through the tournament.

"We couldn't keep up tonight," he said. "Our offense was a little off and their libero was phenomenal. I think their setter did a great job of mixing it up."

Jill Kalvik led the Golden Bears with 10 kills and five block assists. Mandy Horazdovsky and Joy Wubben each had seven kills, while Horazdovsky led the team in digs with 16.

"They did exactly what we knew they could do," said Kalvik, one of two seniors on the Concordia-St. Paul team. "We just didn't do a very good job of stopping them."

North Alabama advanced to the championship match after defeating Grand Valley State, 30-21, 25-30, 31-29, 30-26, in the semifinals. Concordia-St. Paul won its semifinal match over Cal State San Bernardino, 20-30, 30-25, 19-30, 30-25, 15-10.

Named to the all-tournament team were Ninova, Ashley and Amy Moffitt, and Myshara High of North Alabama, along with Wubben, Tia Lindberg and Horazdovsky of Concordia-St. Paul. Also named were Kim Morohunfola, Kim Ford and Cristen Trent of Cal State San Bernardino, Nicole Bayle of Grand Valley State and Ania Ruiz of Tampa.

Quarterfinals

North Ala. def. Lock Haven, 23-30, 30-25, 24-30, 31-29, 15-7; Grand Valley St. def. Neb.-Kearney, 34-32, 30-26, 30-17; Concordia-St. Paul def. Queens (N.Y.), 30-21, 30-22, 30-23; Cal St. San B'dino def. Tampa, 30-27, 28-30, 30-26, 30-20.

Semifinals

North Ala. def. Grand Valley St., 30-21, 25-30, 31-29, 30-26; Concordia-St. Paul def. Cal St. San B'dino, 20-30, 30-25, 19-30, 30-25, 15-10.

Championship