Colorado Christian Volleyball took care of important business Thursday, winning the first two games of pool play at the 2014 NCCAA National Tournament in Kissimmee, FL.
 
Using a potent offense to set the day's tone, CCU commanded control of the driver's seat from the opening set. Their full-throttle effort meant two-straight wins, including a 26-24, 25-21, 25-19 victory over Oakland City and a 25-15, 25-15, 25-20 rout over McMurry – their second straight win over the War Hawks in as many weeks.
 
"This weekend is all about playing to the fullest of our potential and leaving everything we have on the court," explained freshman outside Marnie McIlraith. "We realize that we have tough competition and we are going to bring our best game to the court every match."
 
Against Oakland­­ City, McIlraith was part of a lethal Christian attack that amounted to 55 kills (.333) – almost twice as many as their sixth-seeded opponents could muster. The Amarillo, TX native notched 14 kills to go along with 13 and 22-kill efforts from Kaylee Pierce and Taylor Sturms. The trio tallied 49 together – still better than 30 from the entire OCU team.
 
Helping the Cougar hitters to big numbers was senior setter Jordan Kessler, who amassed 47 assists in her NCCAA Championships debut.
 
Unfortunately, while the Christian squad had plenty to brag about in the opening win, there was much to improve upon as well. In addition to 17 attack errors, the Cougars committed 11 service errors and were aced five times. That meant plenty of clean-up needed to occur by the evening match against seventh-ranked McMurry.
 
"We had a few moments today where we had a couple mistakes back to back," continued McIlraith, "but we did a good job refocusing and making solid plays when we needed to make them."
 
 With sights set firmly on a goal, the blue and gold refocused indeed. Fewer errors and a cleaner game meant for better execution in the night's lopsided win. This time, a well-rounded Cougar squad dominated their opponents in every aspect of the game – from offense to defense and behind the service line. A .315 showing at the net included 43 kills (McMurry had 31), while CCU's defense tallied seven blocks in addition to 43 digs. For only the second time this season, Christian totaled double-digit aces, with freshman libero Joelle LeFevre notching four – a career best.
 
LeFevre finished the day leading the Cougars with 25 digs.
 
"A goal of these past couple weeks has been to rise not only to the occasion of the national championship," remarked Pierce at the end of the day, "but rise to our own individual potential as teammates, friends and women of God. This weekend we are obviously focusing on winning a championship and in order to accomplish this we need to come together as a team with energy and intensity as well as focus on the system we have been trying to perfect all season long."
 
Pierce's two-match effort included 26 kills and just five errors for a .437 clip. Sturms, the NCCAA Central Region Player of the Year, finished with 36 kills.
 
A tough test awaits the Cougars early Friday morning, as the third-ranked CCU team will square off against second-ranked Grace College. The Lancers enter the contest with a 29-10 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the NCCAA tournament.