Every coach of every team has to find ways to explain why his or her team doesn't win. Not coming out on the winning side of the scoreboard, to the
casual observer, is often the definitive statement about winning and losing. Winning is not always the measurement for success, though. The Northland women’s
volleyball team is struggling through a losing season concerning the record but is
making progress toward becoming a competitive unit. They traveled to the
Milwaukee area for games on Friday, September 30, and Saturday, October 1. They are
trying to become the best team they can be for the NCCAA Midwest Regional
tournament at the end of this month.
“We did not play well at all in our first match. We responded and played much better [in the second]
and got a win; then we played really well and lost to a better team. If we can
finish our season the way we came off the floor on Saturday afternoon, we will show
strong and may get some 'W's even,” Coach Herron summarized. The Lady Pioneers
opened up the weekend at the Blue Angels' court at Mt. Mary College (MMC). MMC won by
scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-17, and Northland did "little very well."
The second match of the day was against UW Washington County, who had lost to
MMC in four on the same day. Coach Herron challenged the team to "show character
and care about what [they] do!" Northland came out and took a 25-22, 25-18, and
25-20 win. Northland received serves better and had a multiple hitter attack. Marissa
Hawley had eleven kills followed by Valerie Stauff with ten. Alyse Sugimoto had four service aces along with thirty-two assists.
The last match of the weekend was against a rising NAIA
program in Cardinal Stritch University (CSU). Coach Herron commented, “We used to
compete regularly with CSU on an annual basis. They began to get scholarship
athletes and pulled away from us in program strength. I was thankful for Coach
Wildes letting us back on their schedule. I appealed to my players to put some
passion into their play.” Northland tied Cardinal Stritch several times during set one. At 16-15, a couple
of Northland hitting errors and a missed serve put the home team Wolves up
20-16. Side-outs were traded but CSU kept the margin and won 25-21. In set two,
CSU jumped up 14-6, mostly on a hot service game and poor serve receive by the
Lady Pioneers. With only seven Pioneer kills and sixteen kills by CSU, the Wolves easily won
25-12. In set three, Northland again was challenged by their sideline to "stand up and fight!" The score was tied
at 8-8 and at 14-14, and no more than one point separated the teams until a 19-16
lead for CSU due to a few setting errors by Northland. After the Northland offense
continued to show some toughness and took big swings against the bigger CSU
block, the score became 23-22. A lapse in concentration by the Northland
defense allowed a setter tip and then an ace, which ended the day for the Lady
Pioneers. Elle Hodak had eight kills for the match, followed by Valerie Stauff with seven; Alyse Sugimoto had seven digs, one ace, and twenty-three assists.
Northland plays at home on Tuesday, October 4, in
a 7:00 p.m. match against UW Washington County. They will then travel to Finlandia on Thursday evening. They continue on to Lower Michigan to
participate in the Tiger Invite at Grace Bible College. The seed for the Midwest Regional Tournament will be decided on the outcome of games at this tournament for the
Pioneers.