Sinclair finishes regular season 34-4 and grabs the top seed in the Regional Tournament

By Amy Brown/Sinclair Sports Information

Dayton, OH---The Sinclair volleyball team (34-4, 10-2) was successful in their last two conference battles over the weekend beating Lakeland Community College 3-0 on Friday which was sophomore night and Cuyahoga Community College 3-0 on Saturday. 

The regular season has been very successful for Sinclair with many firsts for the team.  This is the first time Sinclair has been the No. 1 seed in the Regional Tournament in school history.  This season Sinclair beat Vincennes University for the first time in school history. 

This season marks many firsts for head coach K.C. Gan as well. This is the first time Coach Gan and his team beat Owens (Sinclair beat them twice this season).  This is the first time Coach Gan and Sinclair have won all four matches in the Owens Tournament.   Sinclair also received its first preseason rank of 16 in NJCAA Division II. 

All-American Jessica Thobe is at the top of many individual leader stats categories for the conference.  Jessica is third in kills per set with 4.70 as well as third in number of kills with 545.  Thobe also leads the conference in hitting percentage at .450.  Jessica set a career high with 31 kills in a single match.  Freshman Carly Butler was a team leader in digs with 31.  Sophomore Tara Eades also set a career high with 57 assists in a single match.  Freshmen Sarah Chaltry and Claire McGowan both lead the team with five aces each.  

Sinclair will travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend for the 7 team NJCAA District F Tournament.  The winner of the District 7 qualifying tournament will advance onto the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Championships held at Owens Community College on November 21-23.  With the number one seed in the tournament, Sinclair will have a bye on Friday and will play their first match on Saturday at 10 AM.  They will play either Grand Rapids CC (#4 seed) or Kalamazoo Valley CC (#5 seed).

As exciting as having the # 1 seed is, head coach K.C. Gan knows what comes with having that seed and the target that is now placed on Sinclair's back.  "When you are # 1 seed, every team would love to beat you and that sometimes indirectly helps the opponent to step up and play a higher level of volleyball just to match up with the # 1 seed," Gan said.

Sinclair has looked strong the entire season and has really turned it on at the end of the regular season.  "The team has been playing very well with my system for the last 6 matches and we are looking very promising," Gan said. "This team is physically, skillfully, and mentally ready for this regional tournament.  Our objective is to play our very best match of the season for the last match of our season."