2008 Woodie Awards
Muskies out of water
Women's volleyball wins conference tournament, loses in first round of NCAA regional
Steve Goes
Issue date: 11/21/02 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
The women's volleyball teams may feel the sting of NCAA loss for a while.
For the three seniors, Theresa Falk, Erin Bechill, and Kim Wooster, the last game of their stellar careers came to an abrupt as the Muskies stumbled against St. Norbert (27-30, 30-24, 23-30 22-30) in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament. They'd beaten St. Norbert twice earlier in the season.
"It's hard to beat a team three times," said sophomore Leann Hupfer, "and St. Norbert's proved that."
"We felt we were ready," said coach Chad Schreiber, who saw his team achieve a school record 32-5 season.
The Muskies were on a high coming in, winning their first Lake Michigan Conference Tournament Championship last weekend by sweeping the six games they played, including the final three against Marian, who beat the Muskies last season in the tournament final.
"We were excited about that," Schreiber said. "Everyone played well, and we could not have played better in that conference tournament. We were relieved to win, and we got the monkey off our back."
Junior Monica Draeger agreed: "We could not have played any better; we executed very well...It was good to take the next step."
The next step would prove to be the hardest for Lakeland. The Muskies received a favorable draw for the regional, as they earned the No. 3 seed in the six team single elimination regional. UW-Whitewater was the one seed; Elmhurst got No. 2, followed by Lakeland, St. Norbert, Benedictine, and a team from Massachusetts. In addition to St. Norbert, Lakeland had previously beaten Benedictine twice and lost tight matches to Elmhurst and Whitewater.
Lakeland never got the chance to avenge their early season losses to Whitewater and Elmhurst.
"We felt we were a top-20 caliber team, and unfortunately we don't have the chance to compete with some of these elite teams," Schreiber said.
"We felt we were the better team," said Schreiber in reference to the loss against St. Norbert. "We served poorly at times and made untimely mistakes...It seemed every time we needed a stop we couldn't get one, or every time we needed to continue a rally we couldn't do it," he said, adding that his team could beat St. Norbert nine out of ten times. "It's a tough way to end the season."
The players felt the same way: "We did not play Muskie volleyball," said Draeger, who finished 29th in the nation in kills. Junior Amy Lieske said, "We may have overlooked St. Norbert because of the success we had against them during the season.
The Muskies did accomplish a lot of things this season. The 32 wins broke the old record of 25. They won two tournament titles, and
finished second in two others. They went 48-0 in conference games, a feat Schreiber said will probably never happen again. The Muskies were first in the nation in assists and ranked in the top 10 in numerous categories.
Individually, the Muskies sported six players on the All-LMC team, including three first-team selections: Wooster, Draeger, and Falk. Wooster was also named player of the year. Melissa Braaksma, Erin Bechill, and Leann Hupfer were named honorable mention. Not only did Lakeland do it on the court, but they did it in the classroom as well. Two players, Braaksma and Wooster, were recently selected to the 2002-2003 Verizon Academic All-District (District V) Academic First Team. Out of 97 nominees, these two were chosen among six and will now be nominated for the All-American Academic Team to be named in December.
For the three seniors, Theresa Falk, Erin Bechill, and Kim Wooster, the last game of their stellar careers came to an abrupt as the Muskies stumbled against St. Norbert (27-30, 30-24, 23-30 22-30) in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament. They'd beaten St. Norbert twice earlier in the season.
"It's hard to beat a team three times," said sophomore Leann Hupfer, "and St. Norbert's proved that."
"We felt we were ready," said coach Chad Schreiber, who saw his team achieve a school record 32-5 season.
The Muskies were on a high coming in, winning their first Lake Michigan Conference Tournament Championship last weekend by sweeping the six games they played, including the final three against Marian, who beat the Muskies last season in the tournament final.
"We were excited about that," Schreiber said. "Everyone played well, and we could not have played better in that conference tournament. We were relieved to win, and we got the monkey off our back."
Junior Monica Draeger agreed: "We could not have played any better; we executed very well...It was good to take the next step."
The next step would prove to be the hardest for Lakeland. The Muskies received a favorable draw for the regional, as they earned the No. 3 seed in the six team single elimination regional. UW-Whitewater was the one seed; Elmhurst got No. 2, followed by Lakeland, St. Norbert, Benedictine, and a team from Massachusetts. In addition to St. Norbert, Lakeland had previously beaten Benedictine twice and lost tight matches to Elmhurst and Whitewater.
Lakeland never got the chance to avenge their early season losses to Whitewater and Elmhurst.
"We felt we were a top-20 caliber team, and unfortunately we don't have the chance to compete with some of these elite teams," Schreiber said.
"We felt we were the better team," said Schreiber in reference to the loss against St. Norbert. "We served poorly at times and made untimely mistakes...It seemed every time we needed a stop we couldn't get one, or every time we needed to continue a rally we couldn't do it," he said, adding that his team could beat St. Norbert nine out of ten times. "It's a tough way to end the season."
The players felt the same way: "We did not play Muskie volleyball," said Draeger, who finished 29th in the nation in kills. Junior Amy Lieske said, "We may have overlooked St. Norbert because of the success we had against them during the season.
The Muskies did accomplish a lot of things this season. The 32 wins broke the old record of 25. They won two tournament titles, and
 Media Credit: Sayaka Yagi Junior Monica Draeger (#15) and senior Theresa Falk (#6) go straight up to block a Wisconsin Lutheran shot. |
Individually, the Muskies sported six players on the All-LMC team, including three first-team selections: Wooster, Draeger, and Falk. Wooster was also named player of the year. Melissa Braaksma, Erin Bechill, and Leann Hupfer were named honorable mention. Not only did Lakeland do it on the court, but they did it in the classroom as well. Two players, Braaksma and Wooster, were recently selected to the 2002-2003 Verizon Academic All-District (District V) Academic First Team. Out of 97 nominees, these two were chosen among six and will now be nominated for the All-American Academic Team to be named in December.