2008 Woodie Awards
Lakeland wins WVC conference
Men's volleyball team cruise to a regular season and tournament title
Brian Moser
Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: News
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"This is our first WVC title, so it means a lot," said head coach Chad Schreiber. "But we still need to keep our focus on what we want to accomplish in the national tournament and keep our focus up."
Junior middle hitter Jared Rohland was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for his performance throughout the tournament. Four other Muskies were named to the WVC all-tournament team including senior outside hitter Matt Martin and senior middle hitter Adam Plach.
The Muskies are in the home stretch of the season with the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Championship Tournament that will be held in Louisville, Kentucky from April 12-14. Lakeland is going into the tournament ranked second in the nation.
Provided the Muskies get the job done during the preliminary rounds, Lakeland will play in the single elimination tournament that will occur on Saturday, April 14.
The Muskies also secured the regular season title by blanking the four west opponents UW-Stout, UW-Platteville, UW-La Crosse, and UW-Stevens Point by a combined score of 8-0. Lakeland's record was 13-1, with their one loss coming from second place finisher UW-Oshkosh who finished 12-2.
"This is our first varsity regular-season conference title," said Schreiber. "In 1998 we won the JV title because we only sponsored a JV team at that time, so it means a lot."
The road to winning the tournament championship was easy at the start by taking care of UW-Stevens Point 2-0 (25-15, 25-7). The Muskies looked like they were going to lose the second game against UW-La Crosse but surged back to tie the game at 20. Lakeland went on to win 25-21 in the second game.
The WVC tournament came after a second place finish at the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Championships. Lakeland only lost to Illinois in pool play 2-0 (25-17, 25-20) before heading into the tournament.
"We played great volleyball this weekend and had a lot of fun as a team," said Schreiber. "The only match we played poorly in was the first match-up with Illinois. We were missing the intensity, focus, and court presence we needed to win."
The Muskies made their way to the tournament finals by beating Purdue, Michigan State, and UW-Madison. In the finals, Lakeland met Illinois again with the same result 2-0 (25-18, 26-24).
"The loss in the championship match to Illinois was just a matter of them outplaying us," said Schreiber. "Talent-wise we are pretty close, but they've played a bit better each time."
Illinois has beaten Lakeland three straight times, which could be an omen if Lakeland meets them in the national tournament. The Muskies lost to UW-Oshkosh three times before they figured out how to beat them.
The first win against UW-Oshkosh was at their place and became a five game contest, but Lakeland edged them out 3-2 (30-25, 30-24, 22-30, 15-30, 15-11).
"I am so happy for our players to get over the hump against these guys," said Schreiber. "They are the best, so it feels good to beat the best."
Check the NIRSA Web Site for information about the National Championship at http://www.nirsa.org/sports/volleyball/sport_club/2007/.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
sniffsmith
masini de inchiriat otopeni
posted 7/24/08 @ 9:35 AM CST
Lakeland volley team is very good. We can't be worried by the performance made by those boys. I hope they'll be as good as they are now from now on too. (Continued…)
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