UAFS Lady Lions end first D-II season with conference wins

Editor’s note: Story by Jonathan Gipson, sports information director for the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

DALLAS – After 11 successful seasons of competition at the junior college level, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Lady Lions volleyball team wondered how it would fare during its first season of NCAA Division II competition.

Now, it knows.

UAFS beat Oklahoma Panhandle State 25-14, 25-11, 25-20 and beat host Dallas Baptist University 26-24, 21-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-8 in Heartland Conference play on Saturday afternoon to finish its first season of D-II competition.

The Lady Lions finished 32-4 overall and ended conference play with a 7-1 record while playing a limited league schedule that included only one match against each of the other eight conference teams. The team’s only league loss was a 3-1 setback at the University of the Incarnate Word. Their only other losses were to Drury University, Truman State University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

UAFS, which was the national runner-up in last season’s NJCAA national tournament, was ineligible to compete for the regular-season conference title or postseason play because of its provisional D-II status, but the Lady Lions’ first season of D-II play was successful nonetheless.

It is the ninth 30-plus win season for UAFS in the 12-year history of the program. The Lady Lions’ 32 wins are the ninth-most wins in a season in the program’s history but occurred during only a 36-match season – the fewest matches the Lady Lions have played since playing 34 matches during their inaugural season in 1998.

UAFS’s four losses are tied for the second-fewest losses in the program’s history. The Lady Lions lost an all-time low three matches in 2005 (42-3) and lost four matches last season (44-4).

Against Oklahoma Panhandle State, the Lady Lions used a strong defensive effort to sweep the Lady Aggies, who compiled a minus-0.73 hitting percentage. Sophomore Heidi Luks of Tallinn, Estonia, led the Lady Lions with three solo blocks and five block assists. UAFS benefitted from solid serving, which accounted for eight aces. Juniors Janie Price of Fort Smith and Morgan Banner of Southlake, Texas, had three and two aces, respectively.

The Lady Lions’ potent offensive attack led to a 0.387 hitting percentage. Luks led the Lady Lions with 10 kills, while Banner had nine kills. Junior Lucia Najselova of Nitra, Slovakia, had 21 assists, and sophomore Keely Rivera of Baytown, Texas, and Price had 14 and 13 digs, respectively.
Against Dallas Baptist, UAFS got a solid hitting performance from Banner and sophomore Jettie Stec of Fort Smith to win the five-set thriller. Banner had 16 kills, while Stec had 15 kills to offset an otherwise sluggish offensive performance that led to a 0.160 hitting percentage.

The team’s defense was solid, though, accounting for 118 digs. Rivera had 27 digs and junior Fabiane Nass of Santa Catarina, Brazil, had 23 to lead seven Lady Lions with double-digit digs.

Najselova also contributed 48 assists and served one of UAFS’s two aces.