WolfPack volleyball ready to hit tourney
Brian Becker
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: Sports
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"(It was) everything we were told it would be," said volleyball coach Toby Parker, on his overall thoughts on how the conference season went. "It was a smooth transition from the WTCC to the N4C. We did our homework and it paid off."
Second-year players and co-captains Melissa Ernst and Kristin Klein were happy with how the team played during the conference season. Both cited they were glad with how the team was able to adjust to the new level of competition this year.
Ernst and Klein are having a good year for the WolfPack volleyball team. However, they both know that without their teammates, they would not have had a successful season.
"This whole team is well balanced and the passing throughout the season has been good," said Ernst, "Also, the whole team worked hard in the offseason."
Klein contributes her success to team chemistry off the court and everyone having a positive attitude.
Coach Parker is happy with how Ernst and Klein are playing this year but he is more pleased with how they have performed as co-captains. "They have shown leadership on and off the court. They have exceeded every one of my expectations as captains. I am more impressed with their leadership this year than the statistics they have put up," said Parker.
One of the toughest tests the volleyball team has faced besides injuries and the flu has been the No. 1 nationally ranked Golden Eagles of Rock Valley College, Ill.
MATC played the Golden Eagles three times and lost all three matches this season. However, in their last match, MATC played Rock Valley College tough and came close to winning the match. After splitting the first two sets, the WolfPack lost in the decisive fifth set (25-27, 10-25, 25-19, 25-19, 8-15). Coach Parker feels like MATC should have won the game.
The good news is it seems like MATC could face Rock Valley College one more time this year in the Region IV Tournament. If MATC and Rock Valley do square up in the tournament, coach Parker wouldn't change his game plan at all for Rock Valley. "If we didn't make some little mistakes in our last game against Rock Valley, we would have won," said Parker.
In order to face Rock Valley College, the WolfPack have to win the matches that lie ahead first. Coach Parker and his team know they're capable of winning a title this year. But according to Ernst, "we need to be on top of our game and we can'Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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have any mistakes." Klein believes in order for this team to have success in the tournament, "we need to work hard in practice and stay focused."
MATC rounded out the regular season by defeating the UW-Whitewater JV team and Western Technical College without losing a single set. "Whitewater is a good team and they should help us get prepared for the tournament," said Parker.
The WolfPack volleyball team definitely has the talent to have success in the postseason. It all depends on if they can put it together throughout the tournament.
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