SAN DIEGO, Calif. - California Baptist University successfully defended its NAIA Volleyball national title by winning the 26^th Annual NAIA Volleyball National Championship with a 3-0 (30-26, 31-29, 30-28) victory against Columbia College (Mo.).  Being held on the beautiful campus of Point Loma Nazarene University, the tournament began with pool play on November 30 with the championship match being played Saturday night. 

California Baptist jumped to an early lead in the first game, leading by as many as eight points before Columbia rallied to close the gap to within two at 20-18.  Serving errors at crucial times of the game proved costly for Columbia as Cal Baptist went on to win 30-26.

Columbia made attempts to pull ahead in the second game, but never enjoyed more than a four-point lead as the Lancers seemed to always respond.  After trading points, Columbia was one point away from victory before Cal Baptist scored the final two points of the game to steal the win at 31-29, going up 2-0 in the match.

Feeling the elation of repeating, Cal Baptist banged to an early third-game lead, winning 12 of the first 15 points of the game.  The Lancers led by as many as nine points at 12-3 to set the pace of the game.  Columbia appeared to be frustrated through most of the final game and could not get any closer than four points until the final few rallies when the Cougars were just one point down at 29-28. Off an assist Kayla Van Duyn, Tournament MVP Yudelka Bonilla hit the final kill to seal the championship for the Lancers.

Verania Willis led Cal Baptist with 14 kills and nine digs.  Bonilla added 11 kills and nine digs.  Angela Willis added two serving aces in the match to increase her new tournament record to 29 aces. 

Columbia got a match-high 15 kills, 12 digs and eight blocks from Rose Obunaga.  Nancy Sikobe added 10 kills in the defeat. Columbia finishes at 41-5 and a second-place finish. It is the third runner-up spot for the Cougars, finishing second in both 2000 and 2003.

The title is the second for California Baptist, which finished its championship season at 34-5, and the first repeat since Columbia did so in 1998 and 1999.   Head coach Ryan McGuyre was named the Tachikara National Tournament Coach of the Year and Bonilla was awarded the Tachikara National Tournament Player of the Year.  Host Point Loma Nazarene University received the National Tournament Sportsmanship Award.

In its fourth year at Point Loma Nazarene, the tournament moves to Columbia, Missouri with Columbia College serving as the host institution for the 2006 and 2007 championships.

All-Tournament Team

Rose Obunga, Columbia College (Mo.)

Nichole Westerterp, Houston Baptist University (Texas)

Daniela Oliveira, National American University (S.D.)

Leslie DaSilva, National American University (S.D.)

Rachel Loftin, Texas Wesleyan University

Laura Lesko, Madonna University (Mich.)

Ana Mercado, Missouri Baptist University

Angela Willis, California Baptist University

Luana Branco, Columbia College (Mo.)

Lorena Zuleta, Fresno Pacific University (Calif.)

Tracey Abell, Missouri Baptist University

Verania Willis, California Baptist University

Shu Liu, Fresno Pacific University (Calif.)

Ashley Frost, Madonna University (Mich.)