Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Sports

Matt Martin attempts a kill shot over Erich Steinhaus in practic on Tuesday. The team will prepare for Marquett, the Hawkeye Spring Classic, and a showdown against number one ranked UW-Oshkosh.

The Lakeland College men's volleyball team showed that they deserve the number five ranking in the nation this past weekend. Unfortunately, they could not crack into the top four with a heartbreaking loss to #4 ranked Illinois.

Coming off a huge victory over UW-Platteville, Coach Chad Schreiber was looking forward to the Hoosier-Illini Classic. All of the top five teams in the nation were there and fourteen of the top 25 teams showed up to compete.

"This tournament is a good measuring stick of where we are at," said Schreiber. "It happens at mid-season with a substantial number of games played and substantial number of games left. Plus"

The Muskies have had lots of success competing at the Hoosier Illini-Classic. They have never placed less than fifth, which is reaching the quarter finals of the gold playoffs on the second day of the tournament. Last year, the Lakeland men's volleyball team placed second behind UW-Oshkosh.

The Hoosier-Illini Classic is a seeded tournament where each team is put into a pool based on their national rank. Each pool had four teams and each team played all of the teams in their pool.

After the first day, the men's volleyball team looked sharp by beating all of the teams in their pool with commanding victories. The men's volleyball team scored 150 points and lost only 97 points, giving them a 61 percent ratio.

Number one ranked UW-Oshkosh tied that mark of 61 percent. Arizona was the only team to top that percentage of points won with a huge 66 percent.

"We played so well that I was anxious for Sunday," said Schreiber. "We didn't hit a wall and played complete games by putting opponents away early and convincingly."

Not only was the play strong on the first day for Lakeland, but the air around the team was more relaxed and focused as well.

"We have gone into games all business where the tension is so tight or all fun where we lose focus," said Schreiber. "This tournament was a nice blend of the two. For the first time this year, we had the right approach to the game."

Continued...

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