Perseverance
Volleyball takes 3rd at Hoosier-Illini Tournament
Brad Wilk
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Sports
Despite dealing with a number of injuries this season, the Lakeland men's volleyball team is still working towards its ultimate goal of winning a national championship.
This past weekend, at the Hoosier-Illini Tournament at Indiana University, the No. 4 Muskies placed third out of 36 teams. They were 6-1 in the tournament. They beat No. 25 Indiana, No. 19 Dayton, and No. 10 Virginia Tech, before losing to the No. 2 ranked Illinois, in the semifinals.
"This past weekend is a tournament you gear up for," said Head Coach Chad Schreiber.
"This is the first big test of your season, regardless of what has happened to this point. If you've been playing great and you lay an egg this weekend, you really have to reassess what you're doing. If you have not been putting it all together up to this point, and you put all it together this weekend, you feel pretty good."
"I'm really happy with what we did. The disappointment I feel today is not that we didn't play well. It's more disappointment that we were right there and came up short. I know that feeling from last year's national championship match, to be right there with the best team, and just not be the best team that day. Right now, Illinois is better than us, but I think we can get better."
Lakeland is 23-4 overall (7-1 in the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference) and all four of those losses have come to the nation's top two ranked teams, UW-Oshkosh and Illinois. Schreiber said he thinks that Lakeland is one of the elite few teams that have a legitimate shot to win the national championship. The other contenders include UW-Oshkosh, Illinois, Ohio State and Central Florida.
Matt Martin (6'3"outside hitter) returned, from an ankle injury, to the lineup in this weekend's tournament. However, according to Schreiber, he was not playing 100 percent as he regained his hitting spot.
Luckily, 6'7" Senior Middle Hitter Avdo Omerbegovic is back to 100 percent, and 5'10" Junior Setter Matt Clemens is close to a full recovery.
This past weekend, at the Hoosier-Illini Tournament at Indiana University, the No. 4 Muskies placed third out of 36 teams. They were 6-1 in the tournament. They beat No. 25 Indiana, No. 19 Dayton, and No. 10 Virginia Tech, before losing to the No. 2 ranked Illinois, in the semifinals.
"This past weekend is a tournament you gear up for," said Head Coach Chad Schreiber.
"This is the first big test of your season, regardless of what has happened to this point. If you've been playing great and you lay an egg this weekend, you really have to reassess what you're doing. If you have not been putting it all together up to this point, and you put all it together this weekend, you feel pretty good."
"I'm really happy with what we did. The disappointment I feel today is not that we didn't play well. It's more disappointment that we were right there and came up short. I know that feeling from last year's national championship match, to be right there with the best team, and just not be the best team that day. Right now, Illinois is better than us, but I think we can get better."
Lakeland is 23-4 overall (7-1 in the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference) and all four of those losses have come to the nation's top two ranked teams, UW-Oshkosh and Illinois. Schreiber said he thinks that Lakeland is one of the elite few teams that have a legitimate shot to win the national championship. The other contenders include UW-Oshkosh, Illinois, Ohio State and Central Florida.
Matt Martin (6'3"outside hitter) returned, from an ankle injury, to the lineup in this weekend's tournament. However, according to Schreiber, he was not playing 100 percent as he regained his hitting spot.
Luckily, 6'7" Senior Middle Hitter Avdo Omerbegovic is back to 100 percent, and 5'10" Junior Setter Matt Clemens is close to a full recovery.
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