The 2006 season was a great season for Northern Colorado volleyball.
Not only did the university enter the Big Sky Conference, but its volleyball program was eligible for the Big Sky Championship. The club took advantage of the opportunity, making the six-team field.
It proved to be just the tip of the iceberg for the program, under the direction of Lyndsey Oates.
Oates led her team to three Big Sky Championships over the past four years, an accomplishment which ranks 24th on the Big Sky’s list of “25 Greatest Women's Moments.’’
“This is a special honor,” said Oates, who is days away from giving birth to her first child. “We have only been in the Big Sky for eight years and our program has steadily taken steps forward. There have been some great volleyball teams and a lot of success in our sport in this conference so to be included in this list is a nice recognition for our team.”
Since that first season, the Bears haven’t missed a Big Sky Conference Championships. In 2009 the conference tournament was in Cheney, Wash., and the Bears defeated tournament host and the No. 1 seed Portland State to advance to its first NCAA Tournament.
In the 2010 championships, Northern Colorado lost in the championship match to host Portland State, but that next season, Oates led her club to the regular-season tile, as well as a win over Portland State in the Big Sky Championship.
Last season, Northern Colorado hosted the conference championship and entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed. In the quarterfinals of the conference tournament the Bears defeated No. 5 North Dakota, 3-0, and then returned later that day to upset No. 1 seed Portland State in the semifinals.
The championship match came down to the Bears and Idaho State. The Bengals held a 2-0 lead at intermission. But Northern Colorado came out swinging and ended up defeating ISU in five.
“The credit goes to the players,” added Oates, about the championship win. “I didn’t have to say much during the break. We did make a few tactical changes such as putting Kelley Arnold on the right side (she played left side the first two sets), but I could see it in their eyes when I walked into the locker room that they were prepared to do whatever it took to win that match.”
After the come-from-behind win, Northern Colorado advanced to its third NCAA Tournament in four years.
“Each year we’ve won the championship has had its own success story,” said Oates. “2009 was special because it was our first and really broke through the barrier for future teams. It was also the first Big Sky Championship for any sport at UNC since joining the Big Sky Conference. 2011 was special because we won both the regular season and tournament championship. 2012 was unique in that we were the 4th seed going into the tournament. We took our lumps along the way but I don’t think anyone in our locker room ever doubted that we could win the tournament.”
