Bryan News

The Lions lost 3-1 (20-25, 21-25, 25-15, 18-25),but had several opportunities to extend the eventual National Champions. The Lions and Tigers from Campbellsville traded the lead in set one, but the Lions jumped to a 17-14 lead and appeared to be in control. Campbellsville's coach called a timeout, and the Tigers came back and seized control with an 11-3 burst to take the first set. The second set was closely contested as well, but the Tigers were able to slowly build a lead throughout the set. Bryan settled down and played their best set in the third, controlling the match from start to finish behind the strength of their big block, led by Amber Smith, and the hitting power of Alison Young and Kaylan Dilts. The fourth was a tight competition, and the teams were tied at 17 before Campbellsville started to gain control. An intense play at the net resulted in injuries to both a Campbellsville player and Bryan setter Hannah Suits, and the Lions seemed to lose their focus during the interim while the injuries were tended. The Lions never gave up, but costly errors down the stretch allowed the Tigers to put the match away and advance to the championship.

The Lions end their season with an outstanding 31-17 overall record, and went 8-4 in post-season play in 2009. Coach Sayles said, "After the match, I told the players that no Final Four team can be called a loser. My team played outstanding, and truly peaked at the right time, here in the national tournament. This team displayed a level of competitive drive we had not seen consistently through the season, yet here we went 3-1 in pool play, 2-1 in matches that went five. Our accomplishments are remarkable, and I believe this run is a capstone to a year these young ladies will never forget. I am honored and blessed to coach such a wonderful group of young ladies. "

In the semifinal, Alison Young led the Lion offense with 14 kills (.345 pct) and 15 digs, while Amber Smith contributed 7 kills, but led the Bryan blocking core with 2 solo and 11 assisted blocks. Smith set a new record for assisted blocks in a single match, and the Lions tied a team record with 7 blocks in one set. The team had a total of 19 blocks in the match. Hannah Suits dished out 21 assists in her final match, while Libero Jessica Kaya led the defense with 16 digs.

Amber Smith became the third Lion to receive All-American honors. Smith was named to the NCCAA All-American First Team, and was also named to the National Championship All-Tournament Team. Alison Young joined Smith on the All-Tournament team as well.

"Our seniors led this team to heights our program has never seen before," commented Sayles, "During their career, we attained 109 victories, the most in any four-year period in the history of the program. We advanced to two NCCAA national tourneys, won our first AAC regular season championship, and have been in contention for the conference championship every season. They will truly be missed from our program, but have set a marvelous standard of excellence for future teams."