Sports

Women’s Volleyball: Back to the playoffs

By Seth Poplaski

Posted on Nov. 13, 2008, at 12:00 a.m.

The University of Maine women’s volleyball team is headed back to the playoffs for the first time in two years. The team defeated Stony Brook University in straight sets on Sunday (25-17, 25-23, 26-24), which improved their record to 13-12 on the season and 6-5 in America East Conference play. Stony Brook fell to 12-16 and 3-7 in the conference.

Senior Lindsay Allman led UMaine in the match. She finished off the day with 15 kills and nine digs. Classmate Laura Goettsch was right behind Allman with 13 kills and 11 digs. Senior Jessica Wolfenden led the squad in assists with 37. Amy Lawson, a senior middle hitter, helped lead the team to victory by racking up four blocks in the match.

Stony Brook came out and played a tough game on Sunday, but was unable to come away with any sets against the Black Bears. Each time Stony Brook made a run, the Black Bears answered right back with a run of their own, eventually taking the sets. UMaine came to play, and senior middle hitter Brittany Kiehl said it was a hard-fought battle to take the win.

“Stony Brook is very good, but we wanted to secure a spot so badly,” Kiehl said. “Everyone brought their ‘A’ game, and that’s what we need against Binghamton. We always train hard, so I think we are concentrating on just having a good week of practice. Practice during the week really determines how we are going to play on the weekend. It is a huge factor.”

Goettsch, who was not a part of the 2005 volleyball team when the seniors were freshmen, said going to the playoffs this year reflects how the team has shown great determination and intensity throughout this season.

“This is a great feeling. It is great for the whole team and awesome to finish off our four years in the conference tournament, hopefully as champions,” Goettsch said. “All 15 of us have worked really hard to get where we are and we couldn’t be happier at this point.”

The Black Bears have one more home game before heading to the conference playoffs next week. The team will face second-ranked Binghamton this Friday at 7 p.m. For the seven seniors on the squad, this will most likely be the last time they play a volleyball match in “The Pit” in their career. Goettsch said the more fans they have, the better.

“Come cheer us on for our last home game and senior night,” Goettsch said. “It will be a great match. Help support UMaine Volleyball.”

UMaine has now won nine more games than last year, where they ended the season with a record of 4-23, last place in America East Conference.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.