What began as a pretty ordinary season became anything but, as Griffon volleyball won its first-ever regular-season MIAA championship and advanced to the NCAA Central Region semifinals. After beginning the season 7-8, the Griffons won 15 of 16 of the next matches. On senior night Nov. 11, the Griffons ran their winning streak to 11 by upsetting University of Nebraska-Kearney to claim a share of the MIAA regular-season championship.
The winning streak continued into the postseason, where the team advanced to the MIAA Championship final by beating University of Central Oklahoma Nov. 17. That win was Head Coach Marian Carbin’s 100th career win. It was the team’s 24th win of the season, which was the most in Carbin’s career and the most for the program since 1997.
The team lost in the championship game to Nebraska-Kearney, ending a 13-match winning streak that was the longest for volleyball since 1987. The team was awarded the No. 6-seed in the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships, its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2000.
Once there, the Griffons got revenge, ending Nebraska-Kearney’s season in the quarterfinals before falling to defending national champion and eventual regional champion, Concordia-St. Paul, in four sets. The Griffons ended the season 16-2 in the MIAA, with the 16 wins matching the most in program history.
Carbin ’07 was named MIAA Coach of the Year and middle blocker Ali Tauchen was named MIAA Freshman of the Year. Stephanie Doak, who led the team with 478 kills, was named first-team All-MIAA along with Lauren Murphy and Shellby Taylor.
Doak was named All-MIAA for the second straight year. She had double-digit kills in 28 games this season and was third in the MIAA for kills per set and kills.
The 2017 volleyball team
Murphy led the MIAA with 1,459 assists and 11.67 assists per set. She had three matches this season that rank in the top five in program history for assists in a match; she is second for assists per set in a single season as well. Murphy was named MIAA Specialist of the Week three times in 2017.
Taylor picked up All-MIAA honors for the second time in her career. She had 357 kills, averaged 2.68 kills per set and had a .254 hitting percentage on the season. In 16 matches this season, Taylor had a hitting percentage of .300 or better.
Tauchen, Rachel Losch and Kayla Ruff were named second-team All-MIAA and Ruff was also named to the all-region tournament team.
Volleyball 2017
MIAA Coach of the Year
MIAA Freshman of the Year
MIAA Co-Champions
1st NCAA Regional Win
Most wins since 1997