Nationals wrap up and Basketball basketball basketball!!! I apologize for the one week absence, but I have been swamped with school work. Let me catch you all up through the Thanksgiving break.
Volleyball:
Grace lost a heart breaker to Ozark in the second match and both of it’s losses were to the eventual National Champions and National Runner-ups. To me this means if Grace had been able to close out the match against Ozark there is no reason they shouldn’t have been in the final. Unfortuantly they didn’t. Grace end the season with a 27-11 record which is the 3rd best season for coach Angie Taulborg in her time at Grace.
#4Grace University (26-9) vs. #8Providence College(): 3-0..25-16,25-14,28-26
Amanda Brazda had 13 kills, Laura Ones 11 kills, 3 blks, 2 aces, 8 digs, Kami Burke 6 kills, Katie Loewen had 4 kills 2 blks 2 aces, Elizabeth Matychuk 4 kills 1 blk 1 ace, Hannah Schnell 2 kills, 3 blks, 31 assists, Jenna Stulgies 17 digs, Mariah Pattavina 7 digs.
#4Grace University (26-10) vs. #5Ozark Christian College(): 2-3..25-23,25-21,21-25,23-25,12-15
Amanda Brazda had 13 kills, Kami Burke 12 kills 1 blk, Katie Loewen 11 kills 5 blks, Elizabeth Matychuk 11 kills 2 blks 1 ace, Laura Ones 7 kills 6 blks 7 aces 21 digs, Jenna Stulgies 29 digs, Mariah Pattavina 14 digs, Hannah Schnell 41 assists 19 digs 4 blks.
#4Grace University (27-10) vs. #9West Coast Baptist Bible College(): 3-1..23-25,25-18,25-21,26-24
Laura Ones 15 kills 7 blks 1 ace 7 digs, Katie Loewen 8 kills 5 blk 3 aces, Elizabeth Matychuk 7 kills 4 blks, Amanda Brazda 6 kills 2 blks, Kami Burke 5 kills, 1 blk, 8 digs, Hannah Schnell 33 assists, Jenna Stulgies 23 digs, Mariah Pattavina 12 digs
#4Grace University (27-11) vs. #1Clearwater Christian College(): 0-3..21-25,15-25,14-25
Amanda Brazda 7 kills, Kami Burke 6 kills 1 blk 5 digs, Laura Ones 4 kills 2 blk 1 ace 3 digs, Katie Loewen 4 kills 1 ace, Hannah Schnell 21 assists 1 blk, Jenna Stulgies 13 digs.
National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) awarded:
Laura Ones – First Team All American
Amanda Brazda- Second Team All American
Elizabeth Matychuk – Honorable Mention All American
Angie Taulborg – National Coach of the Year
Scholar Athletes;
Amanda Brazda
Elizabeth Matychuk
Channa Hess
Katie Loewen
Laura Ones
Mariah Pattavina
Women’s Basketball:
Exhibition-Grace University (1-3) vs. Hastings College JV (NAIA) (NA)
Grace 55 Hastings College JV 82
This game was interesting because not only was Grace still missing the Volleyball girls, but we were missing Coach Kliewer due to a tradgedy in the family. Regardless This game saw some major growth in the Freshmen once again with Ashleigh Gyalog leading all scorers with 25 points and dishing out 7 assists. Kirsten Stidham had 8 point and 13 Rebounds and Alex Moody added 7 points and 7 rebounds for Grace. Hastings leading scorer was Karli Meyer with 20 points.
Grace University (1-4) vs. Mount Marty College (NAIA) (5-2)
Grace 44 Mount Marty 92
Finally the Lady Royals had their full roster back with the Volleyball team returning from nationals the day before. Unfortunately for Grace that meant there wasn’t much time to prepare for this game. For moments though Grace looked like it will once this team has a chance to mesh. Mount Marty looked good, but at times Grace looked just as good. Freshmen Ashleigh Gyalog led Grace with 11 points and 4 assists, Kirsten Stidham added 10 points and 6 rebounds, and Katie Loewen put in 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Mount Marty was lead in scoring by Taylor Forsch and Kylie Gross both putting in 14 points.
Exhibition- Grace University (1-4) vs. Nebraska Wesleyan University JV (NCAA D3) (NA)
Grace 49 Nebraska Wesleyan 58 in OT
This game was the tale of two halves. In the first half Nebraska Wesleyan out scored Grace 29-15, but in the second half Grace stormed back and outscored Nebraska Wesleyan 32-18. Unfortunately Grace’s leading scorer and point guard Ashleigh Gyalog went down with an ankle sprain at the start of the Over Time period and Grace didn’t have a chance to regroup. Grace was lead by Ashleigh Gyalog with 17 points, 5 steals, and 4 assists. Katie Loewen added 10 points, 7 steals and 5 blocks, Channa Hess add 8 more points. Nebraska Wesleyan was lead by Stacey Beller and Queen Ohamara both with 11 points.
Exhibition- Grace University (1-3) vs. Concordia University (NE) JV (NAIA) (NA)
Grace 62 Concordia University 70
Grace had to play this game without leading scorer Ashleigh Gyalog due to her incurring her ankle the day before against Nebraska Wesleyan which could have been the difference. Grace trailed by 1 at the half and took a 6 point lead 5 minutes into the second half. It was a close game until Grace started fouling at the end to try and make up the difference. Grace was lead by Katie Loewen who had 21 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 4 steals. Erica Stubbendeck added 11 points and dished out 6 assists, Kirsten Stidham had a solid game with 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks, and Channa Hess had 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. Concordia was lead by Sara Simmos and Catlin Beale with 15 points each with Jessica Kaaz adding 14 points as well. Grace held Concordia to 36% shooting and Grace shot 43% from the floor.
Men’s Basketball
Grace (1-2) vs. #16 Dordt College (NAIA D2)(3-0)
Grace 63 #16Dordt 110
This game was close at half with Dordt leading 43 to 36, but Dordt took control of the second half out scoring Grace 67 to 27. Grace was lead by Jonathan Loutzenhiser with 19 points; Josh Beasley had 9, and JJ Hartung and Michael Lovercheck both added 8. Dordt’s leading scorer was Trevor Woltersorff with 19.
Grace (0-1) vs. #7Northwestern College (IA)(NAIA D2)(4-0)
Grace 84 #7Northwestern(IA) 98
In my four years at Grace this was the closest this game has ever been. The score says Grace lost by 14, but this was a 5 point game with less than 3 minutes to go. Grace started fouling with less than a minute to go only trailing by 8. Unfortunately Northwestern made it’s free throws and Grace was unable to get their 3’s to fall. Grace was lead by Freshmen Artrell McMillan who had 18 points and 7 assists. He was helped by Levi Entz who had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Michael Lovercheck had 11 points, and Joe Beasley added another 10 points. Northwestern’s leading scorer was Daniel Van Kalsbeek with 20 points.
Grace (0-1) vs. Concordia University (NE)(NAIA D2)(3-1)
Grace 88 Concordia(NE) 95
This game was a heart breaker. Throughout the whole game it appeared Grace had finally put it all together. Grace lead by 9 at half time and at one point in the second half Grace lead by as much as 16 points. Concordia finally took the lead with less than 2 minutes to play. The two teams traded baskets before Concordia hit a late run to go up 6 with less than a minute left. Once again Grace resorted to fouling and Concordia was clutch at the line. Grace was lead by Jonathan Loutzenhiser who had 25 points. JJ Hartung had 23 point, and Spencer Plank added another 12. Concordia was lead by Beau Smith with 25 and Porter Britell with 20.
Grace (0-1) vs. Park University (NAIA D1)(4-4)
Grace 64 Park 78
This game started out back and forth and was pretty evenly matched with Park going on a 5 point lead in the last two minutes of the first half to lead by 6 at the break. The second half was pretty much the same story. Each team would go on a run with the other team answering. Grace was able to cut the lead all the way to 2 points with about half way through the second half. Park then went on a 12-2 run which pretty much sealed the game in their favor. Grace was lead by Jonathan Loutzenhiser who had 16 points and was 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Spencer Plank added 13 and Levi Entz added 9 points and 15 rebounds. Park University was lead by Melvin Gatson with 16 points and Wardell Satterwhite with 15.
Grace (0-1) vs. Peru State University (NAIA D1)(1-7)
Grace 82 Peru State 95
This game was a tight game throughout. Grace trailed 37 to 38 at half thank to its hot 3-point shooting in the first half in which they shot 50% from the 3-point line making 5 out of 10 attempts. Unfortunately the difference in the game was 3-point shooting. Grace was only able to shoot 27.8% in the second half from behind the arch. Grace University was lead by Jonathan Loutzenhiser and Spencer plank both with 15 points with both JJ Hartung and Michael Lovercheck adding 12 points apiece. Joe Beasley added an additional 10 points. Peru was lead by Derrick Williams who put in 33 points.
Next Week’s Preview:
Women’s Basketball:
The Lady Royals host Faith Baptist Bible College (3-2)(29-13 all time) at home on Friday December 2nd. This is the first game against a NCCAA D2 opponent that Grace as played this year. Grace hasn’t lost to Faith under coach Kliewer.
Men’s Basketball:
The Grace University Men’s basketball team will host #7/#11 Faith Baptist Bible College(3-4)(68-37 all time). Grace has struggled with Faith the last couple years splitting with the two years ago and three years ago and being swept by them last year. Grace has the edge traditionally however and will be looking to get back in the win column with their first game vs. a NCCAA D2 opponent.
Morgan O’Rear
Email Morgan- morear5955@GraceU.edu
