The Purdue North Central women's volleyball team registered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the country in just their second season of intercollegiate competition under second-year coach John Higgins.

The Panthers finished the 2008 season with a record of 22-21 and 3-7 in conference play. Last season the Panthers finished 3-26 while competing as an independent.

The Panthers started the season 2-3 before competing in their first ever Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) match against the University of St. Francis. The Panthers dropped that match three games to none and went on to lose their next four conference matches while being plagued by early season injuries.

The turning point of the regular season came at home on October 14 against CCAC foe Cardinal Stritch University. The Panthers won the match in four games, earning their first ever conference victory and a 14-18 overall record. The win catapulted the Panthers to an eight game winning streak that included wins over CCAC opponents Calumet College of St. Joseph and Judson University.

The key to success for PNC was a balanced attack. Senior Lindsey Anderson (Springfield, IL/Lincoln Land CC) used her leadership and experience to register a team leading 60 service aces. Two Lake Michigan Community College transfers, Alyssa Davis (North Liberty, IN/Lake Michigan John Glenn H.S.) and Sara Ward (Bangor, MI/St. Joseph's HS) also made major contributions. Davis, the team's captain and setter, directed the offensive charge with 1,393 assists while Ward overcame early season injuries to be one of the team's most productive players both offensively (332 kills) and defensively (348 digs).

But it was not only the veterans who stepped up for the Panthers. Freshman outside hitter Ashley Gallant (Michigan City, IN/Michigan City H.S.) led the team with 590 kills on the season while classmate Brooke Lantis (Three Oaks, MI/River Valley H.S.) had 90 blocks, including 38 solo blocks. Joining the rookies on the leader board was libero Megan Staroscsak (Highland, IN/Highland H.S.) who had a team leading 553 digs.

The Panthers defeated Robert Morris College in the play-in game of the CCAC Tournament before falling to eventual champion Olivet Nazarene (Bourbonnais, IL) on November 4 in the first round of the tournament.

The Panthers were led by freshman Ashley Gallant who had eight kills and junior Sara Ward who had four kills and 11 digs. Setter Alyssa Davis finished the night with 13 assists and six digs.

PNC's 21-20 record is a dramatic improvement from last years 3-26 mark.

PNC will host a tiebreaker play-in game Thursday night verses Robert Morris College in Michigan City to see who moves on as the 8th seed in this year’s conference tournament. If the Panthers win, they will play Olivet Nazarene again on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in first round action.

Senior Lindsey Anderson led the way for the Panthers with big plays on both offense and defense. She ended the night with 13 kills, 11 digs, and one ace. Junior Sara Ward played a huge role in the win by contributing with 17 kills, 11 digs, and three service aces. Setter Alyssa Davis led the team with three aces and 43 assists.

The Panthers travel to Chicago on Tuesday to take on Illinois Institute of Technology at 7 p.m. in a CCAC match.

The Purdue North Central Womeon's Volleyball team beat Judson University last night in four games to earn their third consecutive conference win. The scores of the match were 15-25, 25-18, 25-23, and 25-18. With this win the Panthers have now won six straight games, the longest winning streak in the program's history.

Junior outside hitter Sara Ward helped lead PNC to their victory with 16 kills and 20 digs in the match. Freshman Ashley Gallant and Senior Lindsey Anderson added 13 and 11 kills respectively. The offense was led by setter Alyssa Davis, who collected 44 assists in the victory.

The victory moves PNC's record to 19-18 overall and 3-5 in conference. The Panthers have home games tonight at 7 p.m. against Manchester College and Saturday at noon against Grace College. Saturday is the final home match of the season and "Senior Day" for the Panthers. This will be a great opportunity to show support for the red hot Panthers.

Panthers Volleyball Team Named Aquinas College Tournament Champions
Oct. 20, 2008
By: John Higgins

The Purdue North Central Women's Volleyball team traveled to Grand Rapids, MI this past Saturday to play in the Aquinas College Invitational. The Panthers played Aquinas College, Calumet College of St. Joseph, and Rochester College on the day. The Panthers went 3-0 and were named tournament champions.

The Panthers started the tournament against the host school Aquinas College. PNC previously played Aquinas on September 5 and lost in four games. In this meeting, with a healthy line-up, the Panthers were able to defeat Aquinas College in four games by the scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-19, and 26-24. The Panthers offense was as balanced and consistent as it has been all season. Lindsey Anderson had 15 kills and 10 digs. Ashley Gallant had 13 kills, 2 solo blocks, and 3 assist blocks. Sara Ward had 12 kills, 10 digs, and 2 service aces. Brooke Lantis had 9 kills and 3 aces. Setter Alyssa Davis finished the match with 37 assists and 2 aces.

The Panthers' second match of the day was against Calumet College of St. Joseph. PNC won easily in 3 games by the scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-21. Gallant and Anderson led the hitting attack with 14 and 12 kills respectively. Megan Staroscsak led the Panthers defensively with 3 digs and Davis collected 26 assists in the victory.

PNC finished the tournament against Rochester College. The Panthers have played Rochester two previous times, winning both meetings in 5 game sets. In this match up the Panthers were able to pull away from the opposition early and win the game in 3 games by the scores of 25-16, 25-10, and 25-17. Ward led all Panther hitters with 16 kills, followed by Ashley Gallant's 12 kills. Davis finished the match with 7 digs, 3 kills, 2 aces, and 30 assists.

The coaching staff was extremely pleased with the team's performance throughout the entire tournament. This was by far the Panthers most consistent and highest level of volleyball all season. Ashley Gallant was named the Tournament MVP while Sara Ward was named to the All-Tournament team. With the 3 victories PNC's record improved to 18-18 as the team continues to set the program's win record.

The PNC volleyball team traveled to Manchester College for a Tri-match including Hanover College Saturday afternoon. The Panthers eneded their five match losing streak with consecutive victories.

PNC played Hanover in their first match and won in four games by the scores of 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, and 25-14.

The Panthers played consistently on offense and defense in the victory. Defensively, the Panthers were led by Sara Ward with 26 digs and Megan Staroscsak with 15 digs. Offensively, Ashley Gallant led the team with 22 kills while Ward and Lindsey Anderson added 13 and 12 kills respectively. Setter Alyssa Davis collected 44 assists, 10 kills, and two aces in the victory.

PNC's second match of the day was against the host school, Manchester College. Although the Panthers played inconsistent at times, they were able to pull out a victory in five games. The scores were 14-25, 25-22, 25-23, 14-25, and 15-9.

Gallant led the way offensively with 20 kills followed by Brooke Lantis with 15, Ward with 14, and Anderson with 11. Davis did an excellent job of distributing the ball as she collected a season high 48 assists. Sabrina Priajad led the Panthers defense with 18 digs.

Saturday's wins move the Panthers overall record to 13-17. PNC travels to Michigan on Tuesday to take on Spring Arbor Unversity at 7 p.m. in another non-conference match.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team fell in three games to host Goshen College Friday night by the scores of 20-25, 23-25, and 18-25. The Panthers are now 11-16 overall.

The Panthers received even contributions from all of their hitters. Ashley Gallant led the team with eight kills and six digs. Lindsey Anderson followed with seven kills, 12 digs, and a season high seven aces. Sara Ward added six kills, ten digs, and three aces and Brooke Lantis chipped in with six kills.

PNC plays again tomorrow in a tri-match at Manchester College verses the host and Hanover College.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team lost a hard fought conference match Tuesday night to visiting Trinity International University. The Panthers fell in five games by the scores of 11-25, 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, and 13-15.

Offensively, PNC was led by freshman Ashley Gallant, who finished the match with 23 kills. Lindsey Anderson and Sara Ward contributed with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Megan Staroscsak led the Panthers defense with 33 digs while setter Alyssa Davis had 45 assists, two blocks, and two aces in the match.

The Panthers (11-16, 0-5) play again this weekend when they travel to Goshen College on Friday for a match at 7 p.m. and then to Manchester College on Saturday for a tri-match.

The PNC Women's volleyball team traveled to River Forest, IL Chicago this weekend to take on host Concordia University and the University of Chicago.

The Panthers were matched up against Concordia in their first match of the day and fell in four games by the scores of 20-25, 16-25, 25-19, and 21-25.

Lindsey Anderson and Ashley Gallant led the Panthers offensively with 18 and 11 kills respectively. Sabrina Priajad led on the defensive end with 11 digs.

The second match of the day for PNC was against the University of Chicago. Although they played extremely competitive ball, the Panthers were beaten in three games by the scores of 20-25, 25-27, and 19-25.

Sara Ward led the Panther hitters with 18 kills along with eight digs while Gallant followed close behind with 11 kills. Setter Alyssa Davis did a great job of running the offense and collected 31 assists.

PNC's ( 11-15 overall) next match is this Tuesday when they host Trinity International University at 7 p.m. in a CCAC contest.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team's five game winning streak came to an end last night at the hands of Conference opponent Robert Morris College. The Panthers lost in four games by the scores of 21-25, 25-21, 28-30, and 24-26.

Freshman Ashley Gallant led PNC with 23 kills and nine digs. Outside hitter Sara Ward chipped in with 13 kills, 12 digs, and three aces. Senior Lindsey Anderson contributed with 12 kills, eight digs and a team high six aces. Setter Alyssa Davis collected 40 assists and three aces in the loss.

The Panthers' (11-13, 0-4) compete in a tri-match this Saturday at Concordia (IL). PNC matches up against the host school and North Central College.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team traveled to Fort Wayne this past weekend to compete in the Taylor University Tournament. The Panthers went 4-0 on the weekend to earn there first-ever tournament title in program history.

PNC was matched up against Robert Morris Springfield in their first match of the weekend. Due to Robert Morris Chicago being a member of the CCAC, this game was considered an exhibition match.

The Panthers came out of the gates strong in game one taking an eight point lead before Robert Morris came storming back and won 25-23. The Panthers remained calm after the disappointing loss and won the next three games to take the match. The scores of the wins were 25-17, 29-27, and 25-23.

PNC received outstanding contributions from all three of their perimeter hitters. Ashley Gallant led the way with 19 kills and nine Digs. Sara Ward followed with 16 kills and 14 digs while Lindsey Anderson added 12 kills and seven digs. Setter Alyssa Davis had 43 assists and three aces in the victory.

The Panthers second match of the tournament was against host Taylor University. Both schools battled extremely hard in this back and forth match. PNC ended up pulling out a victory in 5 games by the scores of 30-28, 17-25, 25-19, 19-25, and 15-8.

Alyssa Davis racked up 40 assists in the win to go with three digs and two service aces. Ward led the way offensively with 22 kills while Anderson followed up with 13 kills and Gallant added nine. Megan Staroscsak and Angela Edwards led the way defensively with 10 digs each.

PNC started their day on Saturday against Oakland City University. The Panthers arguably played their best volleyball of the season during the first two games of the match. PNC won both by the scores of 25-18 and 25-21. After going down two games, Oakland City collected themselves and slowed down the Panthers offensive attack enough to win the next two games by the scores of 21-25 and 22-25. The fifth game was a hard fought battle that PNC eventually won by the score of 15-13.

Ward had a personal season high number of kills with 26 in the victory. Gallant and Anderson added 16 and 12 kills respectively.

Rochester College was the last challenge of the tournament for the Panthers. PNC won the first game 25-22. PNC's inconsistent play caused by aggressive serving and defense by Rochester led to back to back losses in the second and third games by the scores of 21-25 and 16-25.

However, the Panthers refused to panic after falling behind two games to one. Instead, they picked up their offensive and defensive play and won the next two games by the scores of 25-17 and 15-12. Anderson led the Panthers with 15 kills followed by Ward with 14 and Gallant with 12.

Setter Alyssa Davis and outside hitter Sara Ward were chosen to the All-Tournament Team for their overall performance.

Due to the Robert Morris game being classified as an exhibition, the Panthers overall record is now 11-12.

PNC hopes to earn their first conference win in program history when they host Robert Morris Chicago Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Marquette High School in Michigan City.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team finished in second place of a seven team tournament this past weekend at North Park University in Chicago. The Panthers, 3-1 in the tournament and 8-12 overall, have shown remarkable improvement from last year's initial intercollegiate season when they finished 3-26.

The Panthers started Friday afternoon against Illinois College and won in three straight games by the scores of 25-16, 25-21, and 25-23. Overall, the Panthers displayed a consistent approach on both offense and defense.

Individually, setter Alyssa Davis ran a balanced offense by spreading the ball out to every hitter while collecting 25 assists. Outside hitters Ashley Gallant and Sara Ward led the way offensively with 14 and 13 kills respectively. All players on the court contributed defensively for the Panthers who were led by Megan Staroscsak with 14 digs.

PNC's second match on Friday was against Judson College (IL), a fellow CCAC conference team. The Panthers pulled out a victory in four games by the scores of 25-8, 22-25, 25-17, and 26-24. After a nearly errorless first game, PNC had a hard fight to win two of the next three.

Ward led PNC in kills with 16 and Gallant followed her up with 15. Staroscsak, Ward, and Gallant all contributed defensively by earning over 15 digs a piece.

On Saturday, PNC started off against host and eventual tournament champions North Park University. PNC lost in straight games by the scores of 21-25, 22-25 and 13-25. North Park 's defensive scheme proved too much for the Panthers as they held all hitters below 10 kills.

The Panthers rallied back in their last match of the tournament against Edgewood College (WI). The Panthers won their third match of the weekend in four games by the scores of 25-22, 21-25, 25-20, and 25-17. The biggest keys to this victory were effective serving and consistent passing by the Panthers.

Ward finished this match with 15 kills, 19 digs, and three aces while Gallant contributed 14 kills, a team leading 21 digs, and two aces. Lindsey Anderson and Brooke Lantis added eight and seven kills respectfully. Davis added 35 assists along with four kills and one ace.

Junior Sara Ward was nominated by the opposing coaches to the All-Tournament Team. This was Ward's first action of the season due to an early season shoulder injury.

The Panthers play again this Tuesday when they host Calumet College of St. Joseph at 7 p.m. in a CCAC match.

The Panthers were led by freshman Ashley Gallant who had 22 kills, eight digs and one service ace. Setter Alyssa Davis did an excellent job of running the offense and collected 39 assists to go along three digs and one ace. Brooke Lantis contributed with six kills and Lindsey Anderson also had six kills before leaving in the second game do to a foot injury.

The loss moves the Panthers to 5-10 overall and 0-3 in conference play. PNC hopes to improve their record this weekend as they travel to Chicago to participate in the North Park University Tournament.

The PNC volleyball team fell to St. Xavier Unversity in three games Tuesday night in Michigan City. The Panthers lost 19-25, 17-25, and 16-25 while dropping to 3-8 overall and 0-2 in the CCAC.

The Panthers were led by freshman Ashley Gallant with 15 kills, two aces, and eight digs. Setter Alyssa Davis added three kills and 19 assists.

The Panthers travel to Indiana University Northwest on Friday to take on the host school along with Aquinas College at 5 p.m and 7 p.m. respectively.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team traveled to Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois to compete in the CURF Tournament. The Panthers ended up 1-3 on the weekend, despite several injury problems.

The Panthers started the tournament against the host school, Concordia University. PNC started off slow dropping the first game by the score of 14-25 before rallying back to win the next 3 games by the scores of 25-20, 25-16, and 25-19.

Offensively, the Panthers were led by freshman Ashley Gallant, who had 19 kills and fellow freshman Brooke Lantis with nine kills. Setter Alyssa Davis quarterbacked the offense and ended up with 32 assists and four blocks. Defensively, sophomore Sabrina Priajad led the team with 20 digs.

PNC's next match on Friday night was against Concordia (MI). The Panthers fell in three games by the scores of 21-25, 22-25, and 8-25. Priajad once again led the defense with a career high 21 digs and freshman libero Megan Staroscsak added 11 digs and three service aces. Gallant and Lantis led the team offensively with 12 and six kills respectively.

Saturday morning, PNC faced off against their third Concordia University (WI). The Panthers lost this match by the scores of 19-25, 19-25, and 12-25. Gallant led the team with nine kills and two service aces. Staroscsak led the team with 12 digs and Priajad added 11. Davis chipped in with 17 assists and three blocks.

The last match of the tournament for the Panthers was against Concordia Chicago. PNC lost the four game match by the scores of 11-25, 24-26, 25-21, and 17-25. Gallant led all hitters with 26 kills, a career high 20 digs, and two service aces. Davis had 30 assists and two aces in the loss.

Concordia Ann Arbor ended up winning the tournament with a record of 4-0. Gallant was rewarded for her play by being selected to the All Tournament Team. This was Gallant's second straight All Tournament selection.

Tuesday night the Panthers play their second ever conference game at home against powerhouse St. Xavier University at 7 Pm.

The Purdue North Central women's volleyball team traveled to the University of St. Francis for their first-ever conference game. The Panthers lost in three games to the Saints by the scores of 25-12, 25-14, and 25-13 moving their record to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

Senior Lindsey Anderson led the Panthers with eight digs and six kills. Freshman Ashley Gallant added seven kills and two aces while junior Alyssa Davis contributed six kills and 16 assists.

The Panthers Travel to Concordia University in Chicago this weekend to take on the host and two other Concordia Universities from Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Purdue University North Central's women's volleyball team finished with a 2-2 record this past Friday and Saturday when they competed at the Concordia University Invitational in Ann Arbor, MI.

On Friday night, the Panthers matched up against Taylor University (Fort Wayne, IN) and Shawnee State University (OH). PNC concluded play on Saturday with matches against host Concordia followed by Rochester College (MI).

The Panthers earned their first win of the season against Taylor by the scores of 25-13, 27-25, 25-16.

Several hitters shared the majority of the offensive workload for the Panthers' first win. Senior Lindsey Anderson led the team in kills with nine followed by freshmen Ashley Gallant (8) and Brooke Lantis (7), who also led the team with four solo blocks.

Junior Alyssa Davis did an excellent job running the offense and collected 21 assists and three service aces. Defensively, PNC was led by junior Angela Edwards with 11 digs and freshman Megan Staroscsak with six.

PNC matched up against Shawnee State in their second match of the evening and lost to the eventual tournament champions in three games by the scores of 11-25, 17-25, and 18-25.

Lindsey Anderson led the team in kills with 10, while Gallant and Lantis added seven and five respectively. On the defensive end, Edwards led with eight digs, Staroscsak had seven and Gallant contributed five. Davis led with 24 assists and added two solo blocks and four block assists.

On Saturday PNC played the host school, Concordia University, and lost in four games (20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 22-25) despite their most consistent effort of the season.

Offensively, PNC was led by Gallant and Lantis who both had career high numbers in kills. Gallant finished with 23 and Lantis added 16. Davis also had a season high in assists with 47. Defensively, Staroscsak led with 16 digs, Anderson added 11, and Edwards chipped in with 10. Senior Alyssa Whitaker led the team in assist blocks with four and added two solo blocks.

The Panthers finished the tournament on a high note with a win against Rochester College in five games (26-24, 18-25, 24-26, 25-20, and 15-9).

Offensively, the Panthers had a balanced attack led by Davis (37 assists, seven kills, five assisted blocks), Anderson (20 kills, seven digs, three service aces) and Gallant (13 kills, nine digs, two service aces).

The leading blockers for the Panthers were Whitaker with three assisted and four solos, and Lantis with seven assisted and two solos. Staroscsak led the team with 21 digs while Edwards added 14 more.

The Panthers will play again on Tuesday against St. Francis University in Joliet, IL at 7 p.m. in its first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference match in program history. Last year the Panthers competed as an independent during their first season of intercollegiate volleyball.

The Purdue North Central volleyball team started their second season as an intercollegiate volleyball program, falling to visiting Huntington College Friday night in Michigan City. The Panthers fell in 5 games by the score of 25-23, 21-25, 25-27, 25-19 and 10-15.

Overall the coaching staff was very pleased with the team's level of play and is looking forward to building off the many positive aspects of the first game of the season.

The Panthers were led in Kills by freshman Ashley Gallant with 18, while freshman Brooke Lantis and senior Lindsey Anderson added eight apiece. PNC's setter, Alyssa Davis, a junior transfer from Lake Michigan College ran the offense and collected 32 assists to go along with six service aces.

Defensively, the panthers were led by freshman libero Megan Staroscsak who had 13 digs and Anderson's eight to go along with nine service aces.

Overall, Head Coach John Higgins was very pleased with the team's level of play and is looking forward to building off the many positive aspects of the first game of the season.

"We competed in all five games and laid a solid foundation heading into next week's tournemant," said Higgins.

The Panthers will play in the the Concordia University Tournament in Ann Arbor, MI on Friday and Saturday. PNC will take on several NAIA Schools, including host Concordia, Shawnee State OH), Rochester College (MI), and Taylor University of Fort Wayne, IN.