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Early season loss irrelevant, coach says
By David Moyer
Staff Reporter
Wisconsin volleyball coach Margie Fitzpa
trick would like to make one thing clear: The
first match of the season means nothing now.
Nebraska defeated the Badgers in that first
match 15-10, 12-15, 15-8, 15-11. The two
teams will meet again in the first round of the
NCAA Mideast Regional tonight in the Bob
Devancy Sports Center at 7:30.
“That was the first game of the year and
things arc a lot different now,” she said. “Our
team is more focused and the chemistry is
better than it was then.”
Despite having better chemistry on her team,
Fitzpatrick said this weekend’s game against
the highly ranked Comhuskers well be a diffi
cult one. She said the Badgers may only be two
matches away from a Final Four appearance
but will have to be completely focused to
defeat Nebraska on its own court.
Fitzpatrick said it would be premature to say
that her team is thinking of the Final Four.
“We are very excited about the four teams
that are left in our region and being a part of
that,” she said. “Because of the stiff competi
tion, all our efforts this weekend will have to be
put on defeating Nebraska first and then worry
about the rest.”
For Wisconsin to be successful, Fitzpatrick
said her team needs a big game from setter Liz
Tortorello, a 5-foot-8 senior.
“Liz has to run the offense effectively,”
Fitzpatrick said. “We definitely have to key in
on her. If she is not doing her job well then the
hitters aren’t going to have any success.”
One of those hitters who will be looking for
the ball is junior Arlisa Hagan. The middle
blocker has 422 kills and leads the team in
hitting percentage at .275.
Hagan will try to add to her kill total by
hitting against a Husker block which Fitzpa
trick considers to be Nebraska’s strength. She
said if her team is able to execute after the
Nebraska block, then it has a chance to win.
Not only will the Wisconsin team be think
ing about execution, but each player will carry
something else in the back of her mind. Before
the season, Badger Coach Steve Lowe died
from cancer.
Fitzpatrick said each team member dealt
with the tragedy in her own way, and she
suspects the players think about it now and
then.
Because everyone has dealt with it in an
individual manner, she said, there has been no
dedication of the season to the late coach. But
she said players will probably think of him over
the weekend.
P»n Ranft
2 Laura Davis
3 Julie Chelievold
4 Erika Schlitz
5 Sara Daniel
6 LeisaWissler
7 Carrie Leonard
8 Lidne Fenwick
10 Tracy Endecavageh
11 Gabriele Jobst
12 Dawn McDougall
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1 Salima Davidson
2 Laura Stober
3 Susan Boner
-- 4 Jennifer Reimers
5 Angie Farlow
.. 6 Laura Cook
7 Pam Petro
8 Kristi Hart
9 Jennifer Schuller
10 Michelle Robinson
"11 Kim Kumfer
12 Jenny Myszewski
-13 LeanneKling
14 Saundi Lamoureux
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1 Angie Meyer
2 Kristin Sobocinski
3 Cathy Dezutel
4 Liz Tortorello
5 Brigitte Lourey
6 Sara Wilson
7 Laurie Smith
8 Sam at ha Scott
10 Arlisa Hagan
11 Susan Wohlford
14 Jeanette Simenson
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Amie DoFrain/DN
Buckeyes look to continue rise
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter
Nebraska is making a habit of
creaming Big 10 volleyball teams.
Now 28-3 Ohio State, the cream
of this season’s Big 10 volleyball
crop, is coming to Lincoln with
what many believe to be the best
chance to knock off the Comhuskcrs
in this weekend’s Midcasl Regional.
B ut Oh io S late Coac h J i m S tone
said before his team even thinks
about derailing Nebraska, the
Buckeyes must first think about
Penn State, their opponent in to
night’s 5:30 match at the Bob
Dcvancy Sports Center.
“I guess we have the best shot at
(Nebraska) if we play them,” Stone
said. “With us and Penn State, it’s
a matter of which team is playing
well on a given day.”
If Ohio Slate is to reach the
Midcasl final Saturday night and if
the opponent is Nebraska, history
would not be on the Buckeyes’
side. »
Since losing to Illinois in late in
the 1989 season, Nebraska has an
11-match winning streak against
Big 10 foes. That string includes
NCAA tournament wins over
Minnesota, Penn State and Illinois.
No Big 10 team in that lime,
however, has had the success Stone’s
Buckeyes have had this season.
After opening with a 3-3 record
(with losses to Texas, Brigham
Young and Noue Dame), Ohio State
has gone on a record-setting 25
malch winning streak and swept
— 44
In order to beat Ne
braska, you have to
hope that your team is
always swinging at the
ball. Any sort of non
attack — a free ball, an
overpass or something
like that — they ’ll
gobble it right up.
Stone
Ohio State coach
through its conference schc!Pi^ un
defeated.
In addition, the Buckeyes have
risen to No. 12 in the latest NCAA
rankings.
Stone, the Big 10 coach of the
year, said his team’s winning streak is
meaningless now that Ohio Slate has
entered the single-elimination NCAA
tournament.
“(The streak) really wasn’t men
tioned until last week,” Stone said.
“Our seniors have done a nice job of
keeping us focused for every match
we play. But now for every team, it’s
one loss and you’re out.”
Those seniors include Big 10 player
of the year Lcisa Wisslcr, a 6-foot
middle blocker. Wisslcr has pounded
down 318 kills and led the Buckeyes
with 20 solo blocks and 71 blocking
assists this season.
Julie Chcllcvold, a senior outside
hitter, has paced the Buckeyes’ hit
ting attack, knocking down a team
high 423 kills and leading the team
with a 4.15 kill-pcr-game average.
Add in two more seniors, middle
blocker Dawn McDougall and hit
ter Erika Schlitz, and Ohio State
has the experience needed to com
pete in a regional final, according
to Stone.
“They’ve done it all year,” he
said. “Every one of them has given
us a good match when we really
needed to have a good match.”
Not all of Ohio State’s talent
lies in the senior class. Perhaps the
most important cog in the Buckeye
offense this weekend will be Laura
Davis, the starling setter who was
named Big 10 freshman of the year
and also earned first-team all-con
ference honors. Davis has racked
up 1,168 set assists for the Buck
eyes this season.
Stone said Ohio State’s first
round win,a 15-9,17-15, 9-15,15
7 victory over Pittsburgh, bene
fited his younger players.
“The NCAA environment was
good for our players,” he said. “After
the match, we stressed the fact that
Pittsburgh was anything but a sev
enth-seeded team.”
And this weekend, if Stone’s
team gets to the final against Ne
braska, the NCAA environment will
be bigger and louder than ever.
How would Stone plan to slow
the Huskers down?
“In order to beat Nebraska, you
have to hope that your team is al
ways swinging at the ball,” he said.
“Any sort of non-attack — a free
ball, an overpass or something like
that — they’ll gobble it right up.”
Tamer Nittany Lion team
returns for regional bid
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter
A year after leaving Lincoln with a
I fallen powerhouse, Russ Rose is back.
Rose, the Penn Slate volleyball
' coach, saw his 44-0 team lose last
year to Nebraska in the Mideast
Regional Finals.
Now Rose is just hoping this year’s
version of the Lady Lions, 26-5 enter
ing tonight’s 5:30 match against Ohio
State at the Bob Devancy Sports Center,
can survive for a possible rematch in
the final against the Cornhuskers.
“We have not been playing our
best volleyball as of late,” Rose said.
“Ohio Slate is a good volleyball team,
and we’re going to have to play aw
fully well if we want to win.”
Last season’s Penn Stale-Nebraska
regional final had all the drama of a
Final Four match. The Huskcrs stormed
back from deficits in the first two
games and went on to win 15-12,16
14, 10-15, 15-5 and advance to the
Final Four.
Rose had some rebuilding to do,
especially at setter. Michelle Jaworski,
a first-team all-American, was lost to
graduation.
In stepped Salima Davidson, a
redshirt freshman who last week was
named second team all-Big 10.
Davidson has compiled a 11.67 as
sist-per-game average and has 1,191
assists on the season.
Rose said Davidson is a good
example of how young players have
stepped up to lead his team to its
second straight regional berth.
“We didn t know how we would
be early, based on a lot of the gradu
ation we had,” Rose said,
Penn Slate docs return veterans on
the front line with two of the most
Eromincni being middle blocker
cannc Kling and outside hitter Kim
Kumfcr. Kling led the Lady Lions
with 462 kills, and Kumfcr led the
team with 493 digs.
Rose said Kling and Kumfer have
made significant contributions to his
team this season.
“Those two players have been very
instrumental in our performance this
season,” he said.
Penn Stale’s strengths, Rose said,
lie in the Lady Lions’ ability to ball
handle and play solid defense.
“I think we’re a team that needs to
play a patient brand of volleyball,” he
said.
All of the Lady Lions’ losses this
season have been in the Big 10. Penn
State has lost at Northwestern, at
Minnesota and at Illinois, and Ohio
State has beaten Penn State in both
previous meetings.
Rose said the Big 10, represented
by three of the four regional finalists,
is one of the toughest conferences in
the country.
As for the rematch with Ohio Slate,
Rose said his team will need to play
steady and a high level. >
“What we need to do is have a
good game,” he said. “Our focus in
coming here is to play a good match
and give the fans an opportunity to
sec a good volleyball team.”