ROBERTSDALE, Alabama - The Central Christian Lady Saints have their sights on winning a volleyball National Championship in Dayton, Tenn. on Wednesday.

The Saints have racked up a record of 24-3 including a 12-0 record in Panhandle Christian Conference play, a goal for head coach Renee Crotts from the start.

In the regional tournament the Saints beat Aletheia in the finals before beating West Florida Baptist out of Milton Florida to win the Final Four Tournament to get ready for Nationals.

“We still need to do some things better. We still have to play smarter because we are not that big,” Crotts said. “We need to work harder on seeing the court and playing the ball a little bit more strategically. We need to play smarter and find the holes.”

Senior setter Deidra McCarty was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Senior Libero Fallen Williams and sophomore setter Becky Shelton have also stepped up for the Saints down the stretch.

Before the regular season concluded for the Saints they participated in the East Hill Tournament in Pensacola against Kingwood Christian. Kingwood, a team out of Birmingham, has given the Saints a lot of problems until the Saints defeated them in the finals.

“It’s a friendly rival with Kingwood Christian,” Coach Crotts said. “I don’t think we have ever beaten them so that was the first time in the Championship that we have beaten Kingwood Christian. That’s a big time milestone when you can beat a team that has beaten you year after year it can get frustrating. I wanted that to set the tone for Nationals and they finished very strong.”

With Nationals starting Wednesday the Saints will have to get ready to play a grueling few days of volleyball when they are entered along with 26 other volleyball teams divided into two different divisions.

Pool play begins on Wednesday, with bracket play Thursday and Friday.

Crotts and the Saints hope to call on past success to get them through this year’s tournament.

“We won twice; we won in 2008 and again in 2010,” Crotts said. “So of course I would like to come out with another win but they are looking forward to it and they are excited.”

The Saints still have a few players on the roster that were part of that 2010 National Championship team and Crotts said will be relying on them to be the leaders and to set the tone this season.

“They have really been hyping it up and talking to the rest of the team and telling them how awesome it was,” Crotts said. “These types of trips just build memories for these girls later on in life and they have been sharing those memories to the team telling them how fun it was. Everybody is really excited about it and ready to go.”

Even though winning the tournament is the main goal for Crotts and the rest of the Saints team it is not the only thing that matters.

“They learn teamwork and they make friendships,” Crotts said. “We are playing for God, everything we do is to glorify him. Even if we don’t win they know through their character they have already done that.”