LUBBOCK, Texas – Going out in style.

The No. 3 seed UAFS volleyball team rallied from a first-set loss to beat No. 4 seed St. Edward’s in four sets on Saturday afternoon and win the Heartland Conference Tournament championship at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas.

UAFS won the match 20-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-17 to seal its status as the most-dominant volleyball program in the history of the Heartland Conference.

It was the final conference tournament in the 20-year history of the conference. The conference will disband in July with all but two of the current conference teams – Newman and Rogers State – joining the Lone Star Conference. Newman and Rogers State will join the MIAA Conference.

The Lady Lions captured their first conference tournament title since 2016, when UAFS beat Lubbock Christian in three sets at the Stubblefield Center, and their conference-record sixth championship in eight title match appearances.

Ironically, UAFS won its first conference tournament title in 2011 – the first season UAFS was eligible to compete for regular-season and conference tournament championships on the NCAA Division II level – by beating then regular-season champion and No. 1 seed St. Edward’s in four sets on its home court at the Recreation and Convocation Center in Austin, Texas.

The Lady Lions are just the fourth No. 3 seed to ever win the conference tournament, joining St. Edward’s (2004), Dallas Baptist (2009) and St. Mary’s (2010). No team lower than a No. 3 seed ever won the conference tournament.

UAFS received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament, and the Lady Lions are likely the only conference team to earn an invitation.

Only eight teams advance to the national tournament – three conference champions and five at-large teams. Only regular-season champion Lubbock Christian was ranked in the last regular-season NCAA Division II South Central Region Poll, which is used to help determine at-large bids, and the Lady Chaps were ranked No. 10 in the 10-team poll.

The Lady Lions will learn who their first round opponent will be and where they will play during the live stream of the NCAA Division II selection show on NCAA.com at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

UAFS beat No. 2 seed St. Mary’s in three sets in Friday’s tournament opener to reach the title match, while St. Edward’s beat regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Lubbock Christian in five sets. The Hilltoppers were one of only two teams to beat the Lady Chaps in regular-season conference play with the other being the Lady Lions.

It was the third match of the season between UAFS and St. Edward’s. The two teams split the regular-season series with each team winning in five sets on their opponent’s home court. It was the fourth time for the two teams to meet in the championship match, and UAFS has won all four meetings.

UAFS hit at an impressive 0.251 clip with 63 kills on 187 attempts with 16 errors. Junior outside hitter Anna Demmer, a First Team All-Conference selection, had a team-high 23 kills. Sophomore right-side hitter Rachel Williams had a career-high 20 kills, compiling a sizzling 0.327 hitting percentage.

Freshman setter Taylor Stoops, who was an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection, collected 45 assists, while freshman defensive specialist Lexie Castillow served four of the Lady Lions’ six aces.

St. Edward’s had eight total blocks. Senior middle hitter Mikayla Parker collected two solo blocks and five block assists, while senior outside hitter Kate Hendrix had four block assists. The Hilltoppers had 96 digs, and senior setter Julia Hartley was one of three Hilltoppers with double-digit digs, finishing with a team-high 26.

The Lady Lions held the Hilltoppers to just a 0.169 hitting percentage with 53 kills on 189 attempts with 21 errors. Redshirt junior outside hitter Alexa McAndrew and Hendrix had 18 and 12 kills, respectively, to lead the Hilltoppers.

Hartley topped of her double-double with 23 assists, while junior setter/outside hitter Olivia Rome had 23 assists. That duo and McAndrew each served one of the Hilltoppers’ three aces.

UAFS collected seven total team blocks. Senior middle hitter Debra Rogers, who was the Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference selection, had four block assists, junior middle hitter Brylee Burroughs had two solo blocks and one block assist and Demmer had three block assists.

The Lady Lions collected 95 digs. Demmer posted her team-leading 17^th double-double with a team-high 22 digs. Freshman libero Pilar Onstad, who was an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection, had 17, and Stoops posted her 12^th double-double with 15 digs. Sophomore setter Laryssa Correa had 14 digs, and Castillow had 11 digs.

Demmer was named MVP of the tournament, while Williams and Stoops were each named to the All-Tournament Team. They were joined by McAndrew and Hendrix of St. Edward’s, Kelsie French of Lubbock Christian and Alissa Tolbert of St. Mary’s.

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Christian University Athletic Director Curtis Janz said Friday he will resign to become the athletic director at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Janz has served as OC’s athletic director since January 2009 and has led the athletic program through a long period of sustained success both on the field and in the classroom. He will work at OC until the end of the month before beginning his duties at UAFS – like OC a member of the Heartland Conference – on Aug. 1.

“Oklahoma Christian has been my home for more than 30 years as a student-athlete, assistant coach and as athletic director,” Janz said. “I value the relationships that have been built over those years, especially with the athletic staff and coaches.

“OC will always be special to me because it is the place I grew into the person I am today. So many people have invested in me – Dan Hays, Max Dobson, Stafford North, Stephanie Findley, Randy and Tom Heath and so many others. I will always be in their debt.”

OC President John deSteiguer said the departure of Janz – who has been associated with OC in some form since 1983 – will leave a void.

“Curtis is a great man and friend,” deSteiguer said. “Integrity, relationships, culture-building – these are only a few of his many strong talents. And Curtis’ story is quintessentially OC – he came to OC as a student, his life was changed, and as a result, he has changed the lives of many others. He will be missed – and he will continue to be loved and respected by many here, including me.”

Janz played an important role in OC’s athletic history, having successfully guided the university through the difficult and sometimes-arduous NCAA Division II membership process. OC just finished its first academic year as a full NCAA member and seems poised for success in the future in Division II.

Janz first came to Oklahoma Christian in 1983 as a member of Hays’ first basketball team at OC. Janz graduated in 1986 and stayed at OC to serve first as a graduate assistant under Hays, then as a full-time assistant coach starting in 1988.

He spent 19 years in that role, directing recruiting, monitoring the academic progress of players and helping with the on-the-floor coaching and game preparation for the Eagles. He also worked extensively with the highly successful OC Cage Camps each summer. Janz left coaching in August 2009 so he could focus on his duties as athletic director, a job he started the previous January.

The 52-year-old native of Wichita, Kan., has overseen a growing athletic department that includes 16 sports and was responsible for fundraising and setting the vision for the department. The latter element is something which he took particular care in doing.

OC has enjoyed much athletic success during Janz’s tenure, winning six of the university’s seven national titles during that time – three in men’s golf (NAIA 2009 and 2011, NCCAA 2012), two in men’s cross country (NAIA 2011, NCCAA 2012) and one in men’s tennis (NAIA 2012).

Under Janz, OC posted three straight top-10 finishes from 2010 to 2012 in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup for NAIA schools, which measures the across-the-board success of college athletic departments.

OC student-athletes also have excelled academically in recent years. During the 2015-16 academic year, Oklahoma Christian athletes had an overall grade-point average of 3.26. OC won the Heartland Conference’s overall academic championship in 2013-14, with the university’s female student-athletes taking top honors in the conference in 2014 and 2016.

“We have accomplished so much – six national championships in the last eight years and progressing though the NCAA Division II membership process to full members – but I am most proud of the culture we have in the athletic department,” Janz said.

“We have become a family; we care about and value each other as people first. It has always been my desire to teach student-athletes to compete athletically, academically, socially and spiritually. We have been very successful doing that as a department.”

Janz received his master’s degree in 1988 from the University of Central Oklahoma. He is an active member of the NCAA Division II Athletic Directors Association and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Janz is the co-author of a textbook, “Basketball Skill Progressions,” with Jerry Krause of Gonzaga University and James Conn of Central Missouri State University. The text has been adopted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as a component of its Youth Basketball Instructional Packets. In 2003, Janz received the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coaches of the Year award.

Curtis is married to Kathryn Janz, who grew up in Elk City. She works for Keller Williams Realty.  They are the parents of a teenage daughter, Delaney.

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