Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 12/3/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Kenya Ward Kristin Raeder (left) and Allison Davis combine for the block against Aurora on Oct. 23. Lakeland won the match, 3-2.

With their last win, the Muskies had earned the right to play in the NCAA Division III tournament vs. Hope College in the first round of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Mich.

The Muskies (23-13) played evenly against the number six seeded Hope (31-3) through much of the match. They fought hard in every set but could not overcome Hope's offense.

Hope won the match 25-27, 25-16, 25-16 and advanced into the second round, leaving the Muskies out of the tournament.

In the first set the Muskies were keeping up with them until Hope pulled away with a 7-1 run to close the frame. In the third set the Muskies fell behind 13-6 and couldn't overcome the deficit.

Senior middle hitter Kim Linger had an impressive eleven kills in the match and Allison Davis was close behind with seven kills of her own. Senior Tonia Strebelinski had a team high 13 digs but had help from senior Kaylyn Kasper with ten kills.

"Kim has risen a step above in her senior year," Lakeland head coach Chad Schreiber said. "She has improved her blocking, attacking, and now added a lethal serve."

The season had come to a close but the loss did not take away from the accomplishments the team had earned throughout the season.

Senior outside hitter Brittanie Paulus was selected to her second consecutive American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III All-Midwest Region team. She also ended her career as the Muskie all-time leader in career digs.

"Brittanie is the heart and soul of our team and one of the best players to ever wear a Lakeland uniform," Schreiber said. "If her numbers ever look unimpressive, it is only because we ask her too often to make the impossible play that she makes with regularity."

Four other members of the Lakeland women's volleyball program were recognized as the Northern Athletics Conference released its 2009 All-NAC Women's volleyball teams.

Linger and Paulus were placed on the first team in the NAC and junior Kristine Raeder earned honorable mention accolades for her setting.

Head coach Chad Schreiber was named the league's Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Muskies to their third consecutive NAC regular season and tournament titles.

Schreiber is in his fifteenth season with the Lakeland program and has won three consecutive coach of the year awards and six overall. One of Schreiber's accomplishments this season was winning his three hundredth game. An interesting note about coach Schreiber is that, out of all the coaches in all the levels of the NCAA, he is one out of 21 coaches under the age of 40 with at least 250 career victories.

"I am humbled by the award, especially since it was chosen by my coaching peers," Schreiber said. "This is always more of a player-performance award than a coaching award."

The Muskies claimed their third consecutive Northern Athletics Conference Tournament title this year and also shared the NAC regular season championship.

This season started with a home victory in the Muskie Classic, but even though it ended with a loss, many goals established early in the season were met and several achievements were earned.

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