Nov. 30, 2007
Box Score
TOPEKA, Kan. - Libero Courtney Schneider (Sr., Snohomish) set a tournament record with 44 digs and outside hitters Jaime Anderson (Sr., SeaTac/Mount Rainier) and Emily Castro (Sr., Bellingham/Meridian) combined for 39 kills as Western Washington University reached the NCAA Division II national volleyball championship by defeating host Washburn University, 23-30, 30-23, 30-26, 30-20, in a semifinal match Friday.
The Vikings, ranked No.15 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA II Top 25, will meet No.2-rated Concordia (St. Paul) University MN (36-4) for the national championship on Saturday at 5 p.m. PST. The match will be video streamed live on CSTV.com.
"We are playing each game and each match in the moment," said Western coach Diane Flick (8th year, 175-46). "Concordia plays loose, has good ball control, plays good defense and just swings free, and I think that's basically what we do. It's going to be a battle of that same kind of mentality, and I believe we're ready for it."
Western, which is making its first Elite Eight appearance, improved to 26-4 with its 21st straight victory, the second-longest winning streak in school history. The Vikings have lost just seven games during that stretch, sweeping 15 matches.
The semifinal was played in front of 2,015 fans at Washburn's Lee Arena, the most ever to watch a Vikings' match.
"We played against a very good team, in front of a very knowledgeable and excited crowd, and amidst it all we played with a lot of composure and a lot of heart," Flick said. "This has been a two-year project, and these guys have seen it through and I'm just very proud of them."
It was the first loss in 18 home matches this season for Washburn, ranked No.4 nationally, which finished its season 38-4. The Lady Blues were coming off a five-game quarterfinal victory over defending champion and No.1-ranked Tampa FL.
Anderson had a team-high 20 kills and 11 digs, and Castro added 19 kills and 16 digs. Middle blocker Angie Alvord (Jr., Laurel/Meridian) had 14 kills and a match-high five blocks and Tiana Roma (Jr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) had 12 kills. Allison Gotz (Fr., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy) had 17 digs and setter Katie Robinson (Sr., Everson/Nooksack Valley) contributed 63 assists.
Megan Amundson (Fr., Stanwood) replaced Marissa Hill (Jr., North Bend/Mount Si), who suffered a knee injury in Thursday's quarterfinal, in the rotation and responded with eight kills. Hill was involved in pre-game activities, but aggravated the injury and was unable to play.
"We truly believe in the concept that volleyball is a team sport," said Flick. "That's why when Marissa went down in warm-up, we didn't panic that she wasn't going to play, but instead focused on that we had to do it for her and do it together. It was a complete team effort and that's what has made us successful this year."
Western had a .229 attack percentage to .187 for the Lady Blues.
Tessa Jones had a match-high 21 kills for Washburn, while Monica Miesner added 13 kills and 24 digs.
Western jumped to an 11-7 lead in the opening game as Castro had seven kills in her first seven attempts. But Washburn responded with a 12-1 run to take a 19-12 lead, and never led by less than four points after that.
"We felt that we let the excitement of the moment and the crowd get to us in the first game, which caused us to make too many errors," Flick said. "The good thing about that is that it was in our control, so we were able to cut down on our errors and make them play more balls."
The Vikings led wire-to-wire in the second game. Anderson and Alvord each had six kills in the game, with Alvord getting three as Western grabbed an early 4-1 lead and never looked back. Washburn was never closer than five points in the last half of the game.
The third game featured six ties. Western held a 10-5 lead at one point, but Washburn rallied, using a run of five straight points, three of them kills by Jones, to take an 18-15 advantage. The score was tied for a final time at 21-21, but a kill by Amundson and an ace from Gotz put the Vikings in front for good.
"We talk about the fact that at this level of the tournament, we're playing what we call `wash' scoring, where it's basically who blinks first," said Flick. "It's basically who gets two in a row first, and we're used to practicing that way and do a lot of scoring drills that focus on it, so it's not a situation that we feel uncomfortable in."
In the final game, Western was up by just two, 20-18, but four straight kills by Anderson and a pair of service aces by Schneider gave the Vikings a 26-18 lead, effectively putting the match away. Anderson had nine kills in the fourth game.
"We really wanted to apply more pressure at the end," Flick said. "We wanted to make things happen."
The victory assures Western of the highest finish in school history. The Vikings placed third at the NAIA National Tournament in 1990. In that tourney, they lost in the national semifinals to host BYU-Hawaii before a crowd of 1,500, the previous high to see a Western volleyball match.
It is the second national championship game for Concordia, which fell to North Alabama in 2003. The Golden Bears advanced with a four-game semifinal win over West Texas A&M, 30-17, 30-22, 29-31, 30-19.
Schneider broke the tourney match dig record of 43 set by North Alabama's Laura Bellinger versus Truman in a five-game win on Nov. 10, 2006. The national digs per game leader for the second straight year with a 7.69 average, Schneider's four-year career total of 2,659 ranks third among NCAA leaders.
"All she (Schneider) cared about is that we won," said Flick. "It's a tournament record and her name will be in the record book, but what she would like most is to have her name on a national championship."
The Vikings swept Dowling NY in the quarterfinals. They won the Pacific Regional title, sweeping No.3-ranked Cal State San Bernardino in the final, and took the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship with a 17-1 record.
