Nov. 9, 2007

Puget Sound Rolls Past Lutes in Three Games, PLU Season Ends

Box Score

HAYWARD, Calif. – Pacific Lutheran head coach Kevin Aoki said before his team’s NCAA Division III volleyball playoff match with the Puget Sound Loggers that both teams had to play well if they had any hope of winning. He knew from experience – tight four- and five-game regular season wins by the Lutes over the Loggers – that a poor performance by either team would mean an end to their season.

Puget Sound answered the call for a sharp performance and the Lutes didn’t. As a result, the Lutes’ amazing and record-setting season came to a crashing end as the Loggers won a 30-27, 30-18, 30-25 victory in the NCAA Division III West Region tournament. With the win, the Loggers (19-8), the No. 4 seed in the West Region tournament, advance to the championship match against the winner of the match between tournament host Cal State-East Bay and La Verne. For the top-seeded Lutes, who came into the match ranked No. 13 in the country and riding the crest of a school-record 19-match winning streak, the season comes to an end with a 23-4 record.

The Lutes, who built their season on strong hitting and solid defense, had a total of 25 attack errors in the three games and finished with a .113 percentage. They also struggled with the Puget Sound serve as the Loggers picked up nine service aces to just one for the Lutes. In addition, Puget Sound was typically impressive at the net, finishing with two solo blocks and eight block assists to just one solo block and two assists for PLU.

The No. 20-ranked Loggers showed their strong blocking in the first game, especially early when Hanna was stuffed twice by a wall of Loggers. Puget Sound built an early 13-8 lead and continued to add to that advantage as the Lutes struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. The Loggers took a 21-14 lead on a Lindsey Denman kill and soon led 24-15 on an attack error by Stacie Matz.

That’s when the Lutes finally got it going on offense, at least temporarily. Hanna, the West Region Freshman of the Year, cranked out a couple of hits to pull the Lutes to within six points at 25-19, and she added two more kills to make it a 28-27 deficit for PLU. Groves came through with a kill, however, and the Loggers eventually closed out the game on a PLU error.

Puget Sound continued its solid play in the second game, putting pressure on the error-prone Lutes. The Loggers built a 12-6 lead, and the Lutes got no closer than 14-10 the rest of the way. Puget Sound led by as much as 10 points, 22-12, on a kill down the line by Groves. The Loggers closed out the match with five straight points, including a pair of aces by Jessica McPhee-Hayes.

Facing the end of their season, the Lutes’ string of errors continued in the deciding third game. PLU’s first three and four of their first five service attempts were errors, helping the Loggers build a 10-6 lead. The Loggers led by as much as four points, 21-17, on a block by Denman and Emma Bryant.

Pacific Lutheran scrambled back into the match and actually tied it a 22-22 on Megan Kosel’s service ace, the Lutes’ only ace of the match. Puget Sound responded by scoring the next two points, and they never led by less than one point throughout the match. When they scored the final point on Hanna’s attack error, the Loggers celebrated their upset win over their Northwest Conference rival.

Puget Sound so dominated PLU that the Lutes held the lead only twice in the three games, that coming when they scored the first point in each of the first two games. Other than that, it was the Loggers’ night.

Hanna finished with 14 kills but committed nine errors to finish with a .100 attack percentage. Stacie Matz, PLU’s second-leading hitter, finished with eight kills and eight errors for a .000 percentage. Kosel had a strong game for the Lutes with 26 assists, but few other Lutes played the kind of match necessary to beat the Loggers. Gina Di Maggio, who came into the match averaging 12 assists per game, managed just 28 assists as the PLU attack never rarely got into a good rhythm.

Puget Sound, which hit .200 for the match, was led by Lindsey Denman and Monica Groves with 12 kills apiece. Groves hit .385 for the match, Jamee Fred finished with 38 assists and Rachel Gross contributed 16 digs in the win.

- PLU -