Royal Purple

Issue date: 11/20/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Greg Smith Sophomore Kelly Sorenson was an all-tournament selection in this year's NCAA Division III playoffs.

All season long, the Warhawk volleyball team's goal was to win a national title. They fought hard and successfully reached the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship match, but for the second straight year, they headed home empty-handed.

Against Washington University (Mo.), a team UW-Whitewater had beaten 3-1 earlier this season, the 'Hawks fell, 3-2 (25-30, 30-23, 22-30, 30-28, 13-15), Saturday at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill.

"We have been playing very good volleyball throughout this entire tournament," said Head Coach Stacey Boudreau. "There's just some things that we probably didn't do as well as we could have. Teams can play well, but it's very hard to maintain that level. I think that the girls did everything that they could."

After sweeping Puget Sound University and last year's champs, Juniata College, to make it to the championship match, the Warhawks got off to a slow start, losing game one to the Bears, 30-25.

Washington got the 'Hawks on their heels in game two by taking an early 6-4 lead, but some tremendous hitting from seniors Carley Polk and Rebekah Nelson helped the team go on a 9-2 run, despite some questionable rulings by the referees.

"We got some calls, we didn't get some calls, we just had to play with everything we had, and that's what we did," Polk said.

The Warhawks kept the momentum going in game three, as they took a 14-10 lead. However, several miscues set the foundation of a 20-8 run by the Bears. The errors were in favor of the 'Hawks in its 30-28 win in game four, as the Bears had two critical mishaps at the end.

"I'm really proud of the way they came out and handled different pressure situations," Boudreau said. "For us to battle back in game four and push it to game five, it just says a lot about this team."

With the match knotted up at 2-2, the 'Hawks took an 11-10 lead in the decisive game five. As the 'Hawks were only four points away from a championship title, the Bears rallied back with four consecutive points to take the lead. The Warhawks would get as close as 13-14 until a late kill by the Bears closed the match.

Continued...

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