2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball team lands in Final Four
Women face defending champ Juniata Friday
Cherome Owens
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Sports
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The Warhawk volleyball team will compete in the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship Tournament after putting away the University of Puget Sound Loggers, 3-0 (30-17, 30-23, 30-25), Thursday afternoon at the Shirk Center at Illinois Wesleyan University.
"Puget played a great match, they definitely have a great team," said Head Coach Stacy Boudreau. "We just really did a good job of executing."
The Loggers scored the first point of game one, but the 'Hawks would make it Puget Sound's only lead as they easily won the opening game. In game two, the Loggers managed to get a 13-12 lead, but the 'Hawks scored eight consecutive points and Puget Sound couldn't get any closer than three.
Puget Sound took a 10-5 lead in game three, but the 'Hawks went on another scoring spree, scoring 14 of the next 16 points. The Loggers stormed back with a run of their own to take the lead, 23-21, which forced the Warhawks to take a time out.
The Warhawks regrouped and scored seven straight points, and the Loggers couldn't catch up.
"I think the streaks were caused by the great serving of both teams," Boudreau said. "Some serves were too hard to handle."
Sophomore Kelly Sorensen provided 10 kills and 14 digs, while senior Rebekah Nelson totaled nine kills. Senior Kate Lazotte also paved the way for the 'Hawks by adding 38 assists and six service aces.
"We had a game plan of really focusing on our serve-receive" said Boudreau. "Puget has some really aggressive servers, [so serve-receive] was kind of our focus all week in practice. When we're passing well on serve-receive, it really opens up things on offense."
UW-Whitewater (35-4), who won the 2005 national title, will go head-to-head with last year's champions, Juniata College (37-4), on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Bloomington, Ill. Juniata College defeated the Warhawks twice this season with scores of 3-0 and 3-1.
"Puget played a great match, they definitely have a great team," said Head Coach Stacy Boudreau. "We just really did a good job of executing."
The Loggers scored the first point of game one, but the 'Hawks would make it Puget Sound's only lead as they easily won the opening game. In game two, the Loggers managed to get a 13-12 lead, but the 'Hawks scored eight consecutive points and Puget Sound couldn't get any closer than three.
Puget Sound took a 10-5 lead in game three, but the 'Hawks went on another scoring spree, scoring 14 of the next 16 points. The Loggers stormed back with a run of their own to take the lead, 23-21, which forced the Warhawks to take a time out.
The Warhawks regrouped and scored seven straight points, and the Loggers couldn't catch up.
"I think the streaks were caused by the great serving of both teams," Boudreau said. "Some serves were too hard to handle."
Sophomore Kelly Sorensen provided 10 kills and 14 digs, while senior Rebekah Nelson totaled nine kills. Senior Kate Lazotte also paved the way for the 'Hawks by adding 38 assists and six service aces.
"We had a game plan of really focusing on our serve-receive" said Boudreau. "Puget has some really aggressive servers, [so serve-receive] was kind of our focus all week in practice. When we're passing well on serve-receive, it really opens up things on offense."
UW-Whitewater (35-4), who won the 2005 national title, will go head-to-head with last year's champions, Juniata College (37-4), on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Bloomington, Ill. Juniata College defeated the Warhawks twice this season with scores of 3-0 and 3-1.
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