Royal Purple

Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Nick Koscielniak 'Hawks fell in the championship game in five sets to Birmingham Southern

The Warhawks had their hands full during the weekend, going 3-1 in the first invitational of the season.

UW-Whitewater, ranked third in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III preseason poll, picked up a pair of wins Friday by defeating the State University of New York-Brockport, 3-0 (30-13, 30-21, 30-14), and Birmingham Southern College (Ala.), 3-1 (26-30, 30-28, 30-17, 30-24).

The 'Hawks followed their winning routine on Saturday by ousting Wheaton College, 3-1 (28-30, 30-21, 30-23, 30-28). However, its undefeated week would come to an end in the rematch against Birmingham Southern. The Panthers posed as an uneasy task, as the Warhawks lost, 2-3 (28-30, 30-28, 28-30, 30-28, 12-15).

"I think we had a great weekend," said Head Coach Stacy Boudreau. "We had two good matches against Birmingham Southern, which is a good team. They gave us a lot of competition for our first tournament, which we normally don't see until another week into the season. I'm proud of how the girls really stepped up to the challenge."

Birmingham Southern had been associated with Division I of the NCAA for a number of years, but the team is affiliated with Division III this season and could be a possible threat for the 'Hawks in the future.

Boudreau was proud of her team's play, but said simple mishaps by the 'Hawks were a big reason for the outcome in its last match on Saturday.

"Situations in the last game could have gone different ways," said Boudreau. "There were little mistakes that we made that kind of hurt us. We were right there, and we had a good match with them. So, I think overall it was a great weekend."

Senior Carley Polk led the way against Birmingham Southern with 18 kills and 5 blocks, while sophomore Kristina Conlin totaled 26 digs. Senior Kate Lazotte had 58 assists in the loss.

After just four games into the season, there is a lot of room for improvement. The team will continue to work on several areas, including those it is already doing well in. In Saturday's loss, the 'Hawks only had one ball-handling error, but 11 service miscues.

"We have a lot of serving errors...a bad pass or so...making transitions on our defense," said Boudreau. "We just need to do the little things to sharpen up to get us where we want to be.

Continued...

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