Championship
Washington University 3, Juniata College 1
Washington University rallied from a first set loss to knock off Juniata College in the title game of the 2009 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship, celebrating its 10th national championship with an 18-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-21 win Saturday night at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights, Ohio.
Box Score
Although the fourth-ranked Bears lost the first game they bounced back to win the next three games to win their first title since 2006.
“It feels like we want to do it again and again and again,” said head coach Rich Luenemann, who captured his third title in his ten-year tenure at Washington. “We probably don’t have the most athletic players but we have the most heart.”
The Juniata Eagles were a perfect 6-0 in games at the DeCarlo Varsity Center leading up to tonight’s final, sweeping both Trinity and UW-Oshkosh. They came out with a vengeance in the first set of the championship as well. A 9-3 early lead forced Washington to burn both timeouts within the first 12 points. The Bears crept back eventually closing the lead to 2 at 15-13, but a strong finishing effort allowed Juniata to snag 10 of the last 15 points.
“We were not as focused as we should have been,” said tournament Most Valuable Player Lauren Budde of Washington. “Coach called those time outs early on to get us back to where we could start executing better.”
Most of the second game was dominated by a re-focused Washington team who found themselves up 17-10 at one point. Juniata, however, clawed its way back to a 24-24 tie, only to have the Bears earn the final two points for the game two win.
Game three was a seesaw contest in the early stages. No team went up by more than two points until the Bears went up 14-11. From there, it was all Bears as they steamrolled to a 25-17 victory.
Washington seized control of game four midway through, building up an 18-12 advantage. The Bears kept the Eagles at bay, and won the national championship on a service error.
Juniata, the top ranked team in the nation at the start of the tournament, missed out on the opportunity to capture their third championship this decade under Coach Larry Bock.
“Washington was very good tonight,” lamented Bock. “They won the pass-serve game and got into the system a little better than we did.”
The teams squared off against each other earlier this year on September 18. A convincing sweep by the Bears served as a motivator for Juniata tonight, but it wasn’t enough.
“We knew we lost to them before and we were the underdogs,” said senior libero Megan Sollenberger. “We came out with a lot of intensity but it didn’t carry over."
Five representatives of the All-Tournament Team were in competition tonight: Budde, Jenny Pang and Kristen Thomas, and Budde for Washington; and Drew Barnhart and Steph Strauss for Juniata. The other two players who received recognition are Christina Cahoon of UW-Oshkosh, and Jackie Fiedler of Hope.
Semifinals
Washington University 3, Hope College 2
With both teams in the semifinal match-up between Washington University and Hope College traveling from the Midwest region, the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center at John Carroll University was full of highly spirited fans who made the trip to Cleveland. The Bears of Washington were able to ride that wave of positive energy to a come-from behind victory, prevailing 15-12 in the decisive fifth frame.
Box Score
Washington entered the contest strong and succeeded in the first set with a 25-21 victory. In the beginning of the set, both teams went point-for-point with one another until Washington took control and was the first team to be up by more than one point at 9-7.
The Hope trio of Sara DeWeerdt, Teresa Borst, and Andrea Helminiak were extremely aggressive; however, the Bears were able to dominate offensively. “I think we have great expectations for what we’re capable of doing,” said DeWeerdt.
Washington tallied 11 kills in the set, as Lauren Budde and Erin Albers each recorded three for the Bears.
In the second and third sets, the Flying Dutch of Hope regained motivation and prevailed. Between the two sets, Jacie Fiedler tallied 22 attacks and DeWeerdt recorded seven kills. Washington tried to stop Hope defensively; however, Hope won the sets 25-22 and 25-15 respectively.
“Washington University is a great team and they demonstrated mental toughness. At times we did a great job with our offense to stretch them outside of their comfort zone,” said Hope head coach Becky Schmidt.
The fourth set was the closest of the entire match as both teams battled point for point exchanging aggressive plays. Washington was able to come out ahead 27-25. The key component for the Bears’ success was 40 offensive attacks, compared to 36 from Hope. Budde made several key plays throughout the set with five kills and 10 attacks.
In the fifth set, both teams were fired up and Hope was ahead the first few points, but Washington was able to regain strength and prevail 15-12. Albers, who led the team with 50 attacks throughout the game, made key offensive plays and strategically placed the ball to help the Bears win and had a career high of 25 kills.
Also, libero Kelly Pang completed 15 digs to save many points for Washington. Luenemann stated that despite being named National Freshman of the Year, Pang played like a senior in the game.
“Fiedler definitely caused problems for us all day long,” said Washington head coach Rich Luenemann. “The key to winning tonight was maintaining our focus. We fell behind a few times, and recapturing our focus was the most critical part.”
Washington University advances to the finals where they will face Juniata College.
“The focus of our meeting before the game was heart,” said Albers. “Whoever wants it most will win, and we definitely wanted it. We were down a lot, and it would have been easy to give up, but we wanted this.”
Juniata College 3, UW-Oshkosh 0
Juniata was the only team that did not drop a game in the quarterfinal round of the national champuionships Thursday.
Following a 25-23, 25-18, 26-24 win over UW-Oshkosh in the semifinal round Friday, Juniata still has yet to suffer a setback since arriving in Cleveland.
Box Score
“We played Oshkosh before and knew that they could dig a zillion balls,' said Juniata head coach Larry Bock. "We knew that they would be a challenge defensively. We saw really good play from their libero,” .
Both teams came out strong in the first set, as Oshkosh was more dominant at the beginning of the set. The offensive duo of outside hitter Drew Barnhart and setter Steph Strauss was extremely successful for the Eagles of Juniata as Barnhart tallied 10 attacks. Despite Oshkosh having 44 attacks and Juniata only 43, Juniata came out on top defensively 25-23 with 23 digs in the set.
Juniata came out strong and motivated in the second set. Fuller was able to record 11 more attacks and five kills. Also, Kristin Noetzel stepped up in the second set by tallying nine attacks and three kills. Though Oshkosh fought back during key moments in the set, Juniata took advantage of their offense and won the set 25-18.
Entering the third set, Oshkosh was extremely driven and motivated. The Bears of Oshkosh rallied point for point with Juniata in the most competitive set of the night. Outside hitter Andrea Smith of Oshkosh recorded 17 attacks in the third set along to help Oshkosh offensively remain in the set. The Eagles prevailed, however, and won the set 26-24.
“It’s tough to go down knowing that you did not play your best. We did not bail each other out when we needed to and we did not connect on offense. To get this far, it is quite an accomplishment,” said Oshkosh head coach Brian Schaefer.
Fuller led the Eagles with 10 kills and 37 attacks.
“Kelsey [Fuller] certainly did not play like a freshman tonight, she definitely came through for us. The patience that we saw in games two and three was the difference,” said Block.
Juniata’s libero Megan Sollenberger made several key plays for the team and tallied 25 digs throughout the match. Sollenberger attributes her defensive skills to fellow teammate and sister Molly Sollenberger.
“It’s so different being a senior. You want it so much more. My sister made me the defensive player that I am,” said Sollenberger.
Juniata will face Washington University in the finals. “I anticipate a full on battle with Washington in the finals,” said Fuller.
Quarterfinals
Washington University 3, Colorado College 1
Box Score
Washington University defeated Colorado College in four games Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III National Championship tournament.
Washington started off strong in the first set, beating Colorado by a 25-16 count. But the Tigers were able to turn the tables and won the second set, 25-23.
“We came out tentative and gained some confidence in game two,” Colorado head coach Rick Swan said. “They did a good job of getting us off balance and it was difficult to run our offense.”
But Washington remained dominant for the rest of the match, winning the final two sets, 24-21 and 25-14, respectively.
“After the second game, we had to regain our focus in order to win the match,” Washington senior Erin Albers said.
Albers, along with teammate Lauren Budde, keyed the offense for the Bears. The two middle hitters each had 12 kills.
Two freshmen played big roles for each team in the match-up as well. Washington’s Kelly Pang recorded 20 digs in the match, while Laura Goldsmith tallied 18 digs for the Tigers.
The Bears' win sets them up for another shot at a national championship, a feat the school has accomplished nine times previously in the sport of volleyball.
Hope College 3, Tufts University 1
Box Score
Hope College came to John Carroll with high hopes of coming away with a victory. And they did just that on Thursday.
Hope won the first two sets (25-17, 25-23), lost the third (31-29), and sealed the win in the fourth set (25-18) against a very determined Tufts University team.
After the first two sets provided some if not significant drama, the third set of this match had all the spectators on the edge of their seat. Tufts fought off five match points before producing a victory in the longest game of any match on this day.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said head coach Cora Thompson. "Although the outcome was disappointing, the effort was not"
The trio of Hopes Andrea Helminiak, Sara DeWeerdt, and Jacie Fiedler proved vital to Hope's efforts in producing its school-record 34th win of the season. Helminak, the only player from Ohio among the eight teams that advanced to Cleveland, had 47 assists. DeWeerdt and Fiedler combined for 32 kills.
Hope College advances to face Washington University in the semifinals. Hope’s previous encounter with Washington ended in a victory for Hope.
"Both teams have grown significantly since that first meetings," said Helminiak. “We’ll see tomorrow who has grown the most.”
Juniata 3, Trinity 0
Box Score
Juniata College was able to keep Trinity University on the defensive in the quarterfinals of the Division III volleyball tournament, winning 3-0 at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center at John Carroll University.
The Eagles handily won the first game thanks to an 8-3 start. After the 25-16 rout, the final two stanzas were hotly contested. Juniata prevailed in each, winning 27-25 and 25-23 in games two and three, respectively, for the only sweep of a quarterfinal round match Thursday.
The contest was a rematch of an October 30th contest in which Juniata also won 3-0. Juniata coach Larry Bock said he was impressed at how prepared Trinity was, however.
“Trinity was a completely different team tonight than what we saw three weeks ago,” Bock said.
Each of the final two games went back and forth between in their entirety. With the score knotted up at 7-7, Juniata grabbed the momentum after winning a dramatic long point which energized some 350 fans on hand. The Eagles went on to win the next four points and would not relinquish their lead.
Game three produced more of the same drama. After the score was tied at 20, Juniata flexed its muscles once again, emerging victorious in the clutch situation.
Outside hitter Drew Barnhart and setter Steph Strauss proved a dominant duo as Barnhart, a 5-foot 11-inch sophomore recorded 20 kills while Strauss registered 43 assists.
Outside Hitter Aly Hazelwood led the Tigers’ attack, tallying 11 kills while Ginger Haley and Madison McMahon each added eight.
The difference, however, was in the defense each team played as Juniata netted 55 digs compared to just 35 for Trinity, who finished their season at 30-12. Trinity coach Julie Jenkins cited the difference in defense as the reason for the result.
“We struggled defensively,” Jenkins said. “Both teams were on offensively, Juniata just defended better than Trinity.”
The Eagles improved to 35-3 and will take on the winner of the Christopher Newport- Wisconsin-Oshkosh match Friday.
UW-Oshkosh 3, Christopher Newport 1
Box Score
It was a tough battle between Christopher Newport University and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Thursday at the quarterfinals of the Division III volleyball tournament. In the end the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh came through winning three games to one.
Although Oshkosh put up a good fight in the first game it was not enough to stop Christopher Newport from winning with a score of 25-21. Junior Caitlyn Jansen came up big with her six blocks.
After the disappointing first game, Oshkosh came back with a vengeance in the next three games.
“The first game was obviously a low point,” said UW-Oshkosh head coach Brian Schaefer. "I believe the players as well as the coaches knew that we could come back."
The Titans rose to the occasion and won the next three games with a score of 25-14, 25-13, and 25-21.
With the help of senior Jacque Ray and AVCA Player of the Year Christina Cahoon, the Titans were able to over come Christopher Newport’s early dominance at the net. Ray finished with a match-high 17 kills, while Cahoon had a total of 40 digs.
While Christopher Newport was unable to advance tonight, there seemed to be a calmness about the setback -- mainly because the team could potentially return intact with no seniors on the roster
“I’m really excited for next season and pumped for the team to come back” said Jansen.
