Lakeland College

Muskies Falter in UW-Platteville Tourney

Athletics - posted on 9/30/2006

The women's volleyball team fell to 9-8 overall after taking only one out of four matches this past weekend at the UW-Platteville Tournament.

Although the Muskies managed to take a game against Cornell on Saturday and keep their match with UW-Platteville fairly close on Friday, their lone win came in their first match of the tournament on Friday, Sept. 29, as the team cruised past Clarke College in three games with identical scores of 30-16.

Senior outside hitter Erin Helbing blazed a trail for the Muskies with 11 kills, six digs and three block assists, while sophomore setter Jessica Sparling tallied 27 assists to go with nine kills and 12 digs. Collectively, the duo hit over .500 for the match to help boost the team's percentage for the match to .343.

Junior middle hitter Shelly Bruni also helped boost the offensive drive, picking up eight kills on a .636 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Brittani Paulus picked up 11 digs on defense and chipped in six kills.

Although Lakeland's match with UW-Platteville only lasted three games, the Muskies fought to keep the score close with a 27-30, 26-30, 24-30 result.

Paulus led the team on both offense and defense with nine kills, 12 digs and two block assists. The Muskies' middle hitters continued to produce positive hitting stats as Bruni finished eight spikes on .467 hitting and freshman Kim Linger knocked down seven kills, hitting .500, to go with a team-high four block assists.

On Saturday, Lakeland's luck did not improve as the team could only muster a game two win against Cornell College in their second match of the day with scores of 16-30, 30-25, 21-30 and 13-30.

Although poor hitting percentages plagued the Muskies, sophomore outside hitter Heidi Kramer exploded for her best match of the tournament, leading the team in kills and digs with 14 and 18 respectively.

Bruni was second in kills with nine, while junior outside hitter Ashley Domask chipped in eight kills and eleven digs. Freshman Tonia Strebelinski also provided the Muskies with a defensive boost with 12 digs, while Sparling recorded her highest assists total for the tournament with 37.

Poor hitting crippled the squad in their previous game of the day as well, falling to Aurora University in three straight games 26-30, 21-30 and 21-30.

Bruni topped the kills column with seven, while Strebelinski paced the defense with 16 digs.

Kramer was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts on the weekend, compiling 30 kills and 24 digs.

The Muskies will look to get back on track quickly, as their next three matches will be against Northern Athletics Conference opponents. First, the team will have another shot at Aurora University, this time for NAC credit, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, in Aurora, Ill., followed by a home match with Rockford College on Friday, Oct. 6. Game time for both matches is set for 7 p.m.

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