2008 Woodie Awards
Women's volleyball hitting its stride
Steve Goes
Issue date: 10/10/02 Section: Sports
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Everyone within the Lakeland College Women's Volleyball team knew they were good, and now some people outside the program are realizing it as well. The Muskies are currently ranked 5th in the Midwest region, and are off to their best start in school history at 17-3. If that's not impressive enough, the Muskies are 7-0 in the Lake Michigan Conference and haven't even dropped a game in conference. (A match is best out of 5five.
"Our goal is to not drop a game in conference," said head coach Chad Schreiber, who admitted he's a little surprised by the feat the Muskies could achieve this year. Not one team in Schreiber's seven years has run through the league without losing a game.
Leanne Hupfer echoed Schreiber's comments: "We don't want to lose a game in league all year...If we do that, we will be conference champs, and that will give us a shot in the NCAA Tournament."
The LMC is down this year, according to Schreiber, and the Muskies must travel to find stiffer competition. That was the case this past weekend as the Muskies traveled to Illinois to play Benedictine, who is 8th in the region, and Elmhurst, who is 2nd in the region. The Muskies lost to Elmhurst in four games, and defeated Benedictine in five, coming back from a 13-11 deficit in the fifth and deciding game to win 15-11.
"We gained nothing and lost nothing," Schreiber said. "We beat the team we were supposed to beat, and lost to the team we were supposed to lose to."
If the Muskies are to be considered among the nation's elite, they are going to have to beat someone who's of elite status. They will get that chance in the next two weeks. The Muskies travel to Oshkosh next weekend for a showdown against the Titans, who were ranked 12th in the nation at the start of the year.
Schreiber believes depth is one of the strengths of this team, which was illustrated last week when senior captain Kim Wooster went down with a sprained ankle. Sophomore Amy Lieske, normally the team's back row specialist, was pressed into the starting setter spot. The Muskies went 5-0 with Lieske at setter, proving how important depth is.
"Our goal is to not drop a game in conference," said head coach Chad Schreiber, who admitted he's a little surprised by the feat the Muskies could achieve this year. Not one team in Schreiber's seven years has run through the league without losing a game.
Leanne Hupfer echoed Schreiber's comments: "We don't want to lose a game in league all year...If we do that, we will be conference champs, and that will give us a shot in the NCAA Tournament."
The LMC is down this year, according to Schreiber, and the Muskies must travel to find stiffer competition. That was the case this past weekend as the Muskies traveled to Illinois to play Benedictine, who is 8th in the region, and Elmhurst, who is 2nd in the region. The Muskies lost to Elmhurst in four games, and defeated Benedictine in five, coming back from a 13-11 deficit in the fifth and deciding game to win 15-11.
"We gained nothing and lost nothing," Schreiber said. "We beat the team we were supposed to beat, and lost to the team we were supposed to lose to."
If the Muskies are to be considered among the nation's elite, they are going to have to beat someone who's of elite status. They will get that chance in the next two weeks. The Muskies travel to Oshkosh next weekend for a showdown against the Titans, who were ranked 12th in the nation at the start of the year.
Schreiber believes depth is one of the strengths of this team, which was illustrated last week when senior captain Kim Wooster went down with a sprained ankle. Sophomore Amy Lieske, normally the team's back row specialist, was pressed into the starting setter spot. The Muskies went 5-0 with Lieske at setter, proving how important depth is.