Lakeland College

Women's Volleyball Players Receive Awards at Annual Banquet

Athletics - posted on 1/22/2008

Members of the Lakeland College women's volleyball team were recognized for their hard work and dedication during the 2007 season at their team awards banquet on Sunday, Jan. 20.

Team members selected sophomore outside hitter Brittanie Paulus (Belgium/Ozaukee) for the Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year Awards.

Paulus was a key component on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball for the Muskies, as she led the team in kills with 343, good for ninth in the Northern Athletics Conference, and was second in digs with 426. Paulus was also named the NAC Player of the Year, was an All-NAC First Team member and an All-Tournament selection at the Wheaton College and UW-LaCrosse Tournaments, and earned the NAC Student-Athlete of the Week Award for the week of October 1.

The Defensive Player of the Year Award went to sophomore defensive specialist Tonia Strebelinski (Berlin/Berlin), whose steady play could be counted on to constantly come up with big plays in the backcourt. Strebelinski closed out the season with a team-high 452 digs and received the NAC Student-Athlete of the Week Award for the week of October 29.

The 2007 Coach's Award went to senior middle hitter Shelly Bruni (Juneau/Lakeside Lutheran), as her passion on offense often sparked the Muskies into making unstoppable scoring runs. Bruni finished the season in the No. 4 spot in the NAC for hitting percentage at 28.1, and garnered All-NAC Second Team recognition.

Freshmen Kristine Raeder (Sheboygan Falls/Oostburg), Andrea Mueller (Manitowoc/Manitowoc Lutheran) and Jessica Regester (Lake Geneva/Badger) claimed the final three awards of the banquet, as Raeder was dubbed Rookie of the Year, Mueller was named the Most Improved Player and Regester earned the Sportsmanship Award.

Raeder could be counted on to provide steady relief as the Muskies' back-up setter throughout the season, as she provided 317 assists and racked up 27 service aces, good for third on the team.

Although Mueller, an outside hitter, and Regester, a right side hitter, did not see a great deal of court time, both exhibited positive attitudes and tireless work ethics throughout the season that allowed them to contribute to the greater good of the team in various ways.

The team received a few other NAC awards, as head coach Chad Schreiber was named the Coach of the Year, while junior setter Jessica Sparling (Addison, Ill./Addison Trail) and senior outside hitter Ashley Domask (Hortonville/Xavier) received All-NAC First Team accolades. The pair provided major contributions all over the court, as Sparling finished third in the NAC in assists with 1,033, while Domask was second on the team in kills with 326 and third in digs with 349.

Schreiber's squad ran the table in the NAC, finishing with a perfect 12-0 record, then won its first NAC Tournament title with a 3-1 victory over Benedictine University. This is the fourth time Schreiber has been awarded the conference Coach of the Year honor, as he received the award three times while coaching in the former Lake Michigan Conference.

Schreiber also helped guide the Muskies through a tough schedule packed with talented opponents, as 11 of the team's 16 losses came at the hands of nationally ranked opponents, seven of which were to teams ranked in the Top 10 in the Nation. Two of the remaining five losses were to regionally ranked teams, making for only three losses to unranked squads.

The Muskies did register three big wins against nationally ranked competition, knocking two of them out of the rankings. The most significant of the wins may have been a 3-0 victory over Stevens Institute, the No. 1 team in the New York Region, who eventually went on to make the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

Although Lakeland's 23-14 overall season record was not enough to earn the team an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Muskies can look forward to 2008 with the positive mindset that they are on a four-match win streak, having ended 2007 with a victory in the conference championship match.

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