Second Place Finish for Lady Eagles at Conference Tournament

MANHATTAN, KS – The Emmaus Lady Eagles gave their all, but fell just two points shy of winning the MCCC Tournament championship match against the Lady Ambassadors of Ozark Christian College (Joplin, MO). It was an exciting back and forth battle, and all five sets were needed to determine the winner.

Both teams had completed emotional semi-final matches the night before, with Emmaus taking down in-state rival Faith Baptist, and Ozark upsetting number one seeded Manhattan Christian on their own floor. Emmaus and Ozark both pushed hard for momentum in the final, with Emmaus capturing sets one and two and Ozark taking sets three and four. Set five went right to the wire, with Ozark making two key plays to seal the match with a 14-16 score. Both teams scored 107 points in the contest.

"I am so proud of our team and how we performed today," commented Coach Pitman. "Yes, the loss stings, but we did exactly what we purposed to do on the court. We had a great testimony, we were unified, and we played hard to the best of our abilities. There is nothing I would change as far as our play or strategy if we were to do this match over. We never gave up or caved under pressure, and we made Ozark earn the victory. They were the better team for two points and are to be commended for playing a fantastic match. I believe the Lord was honored by the play of both teams today."

This is the farthest Emmaus has advanced in tournament play in the MCCC in their short three year history in the conference. Emmaus also captured second place in the conference regular season standings. The Lady Eagles now stand at 14-5 on the season.

Emmaus will have a couple weeks at home to practice and prepare for their trip to the ACCA National Tournament in Joplin, MO. Tournament information will be released soon.