On their way to Oshkosh
Women's volleyball clinches conference championship and sets sites on NCAA tourney
Brad Wilk
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports
The Lakeland women's volleyball team has a chance to make some history this week.
The Muskies (25-10) will play UW-Oshkosh (37-2) in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in Oshkosh, and will try to become the first team in Lakeland volleyball history to win an NCAA match, which was one of the team's biggest goals this season.
This is the fifth team that Lakeland coach Chad Schreiber has taken into the NCAA Tournament, and he said achieving that goal would make this trip extra special.
"It could become the most meaningful (NCAA trip) if we win in this first round and do something we haven't done before," Schreiber said.
"The first one is always special. This is the second-best feeling in making it because I'm excited to see (seniors) Heidi (Kramer) and Jess (Sparling) get back there, and I'm excited that we have three classes of other girls seeing it for the first time." he said.
Lakeland will be taking a fan bus to the match on Thursday. Tickets to the game are $4 for students and $8 for adults and the bus ride is included. The fan bus will leave the Campus Center at 7 p.m. Students or Lakeland faculty and staff interested can sign up with Director of Student Activities Kaye Martin.
Lakeland earned its NCAA trip on Saturday when the Muskies beat Concordia, Wis., 3-1 to win the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament. After two seasons of not having an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament due to the new conference being formed, the NAC got the automatic bid back this season for all sports. Lakeland last went to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 when Sparling and Kramer were freshmen.
The Muskies have a tough challenge because Oshkosh will be playing on its home court and they are ranked No. 7 in the nation. Lakeland lost to Oshkosh 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 on Oct. 31, but Schreiber said he thinks playing Oshkosh again will be an advantage for his team."Our team always does better against a team they've seen twice," he said.
The Muskies (25-10) will play UW-Oshkosh (37-2) in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in Oshkosh, and will try to become the first team in Lakeland volleyball history to win an NCAA match, which was one of the team's biggest goals this season.
This is the fifth team that Lakeland coach Chad Schreiber has taken into the NCAA Tournament, and he said achieving that goal would make this trip extra special.
"It could become the most meaningful (NCAA trip) if we win in this first round and do something we haven't done before," Schreiber said.
"The first one is always special. This is the second-best feeling in making it because I'm excited to see (seniors) Heidi (Kramer) and Jess (Sparling) get back there, and I'm excited that we have three classes of other girls seeing it for the first time." he said.
Lakeland will be taking a fan bus to the match on Thursday. Tickets to the game are $4 for students and $8 for adults and the bus ride is included. The fan bus will leave the Campus Center at 7 p.m. Students or Lakeland faculty and staff interested can sign up with Director of Student Activities Kaye Martin.
Lakeland earned its NCAA trip on Saturday when the Muskies beat Concordia, Wis., 3-1 to win the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament. After two seasons of not having an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament due to the new conference being formed, the NAC got the automatic bid back this season for all sports. Lakeland last went to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 when Sparling and Kramer were freshmen.
The Muskies have a tough challenge because Oshkosh will be playing on its home court and they are ranked No. 7 in the nation. Lakeland lost to Oshkosh 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 on Oct. 31, but Schreiber said he thinks playing Oshkosh again will be an advantage for his team."Our team always does better against a team they've seen twice," he said.
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