Just like old times, former Cougar coach Green still winning,
Ex-Cougar player Meisner named to all-tournament team.
From the Anchorage Daily News Sunday website
Somewhere along the line, volleyball became a sport where every point is cause for celebration, which means by the end of a match, the winners have hugged, hollered and high-fived at least 75 times. Every kill, every ace, every mistake by the opponent is reason to jump for joy.
But Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, UAA had more than the usual reasons to get giddy.
The Seawolves swept Texas Woman's University 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 to win their fourth match in a row, take the team title in the Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational, and serve notice that they might not be the pushovers they were last season.
With a 4-1 record and three three-set sweeps to their credit, the Seawolves are almost as successful as they were last year, when they won only five matches the entire season.
"We made a statement," said setter Calli Scott, a junior transfer who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. "Look at last year when we weren't a contender, and now we've got something to say."
The Seawolves are saying they're already better than they were on Thursday, when they lost their season opener to 13th-ranked Central Missouri. Scott is saying the players are over their early timidness, and new coach Chris Green is saying the early success means the players will buy into what he's selling.
"This gives the coaches some confidence in the players and gives them some confidence in the coaches," Green said. "I think they see our system works.
"It allows me to continue to do what I'm doing."
As a junior college coach at Western Nebraska Community College, what Green did was win. He was 453-55 in nine seasons and won last year's national junior college championship.
At this point, no one at UAA is talking national championship, or even conference championship. Coaches in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference picked the Seawolves to finish last in the nine-team league.
But it's OK to talk Extended Stay Deluxe championship. The Seawolves won it fair and square, rebounding from the loss to Central Missouri to win every tournament match, including a pair of three-set sweeps Saturday over Texas Woman's University.
In their morning round-robin match against the Pioneers, UAA triumphed 25-22, 25-19, 25-13. Sophomore middle hitter Cortney Lundberg had 10 kills and three other Seawolves had nine apiece, including Rachel Kidwell, who added 17 digs, and Joanna Johnson, who had 16 digs.
In the day's other round-robin match, Harding University defeated Ohio Valley 25-17, 25-10, 25-13. In the third-placed match, Harding beat Ohio Valley again, 25-8, 25-9, 25-3.
In UAA's championship match victory against TWU, Rhea Cardwell was the big hitter with 15 kills and Kidwell was close behind with 13. Lundberg, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter, put up a big block, notching two solo blocks and assisting on six others.
The hitting woes that plagued UAA against Central Missouri were absent during the two-day tournament.
"We had a marked improvement in offense," Green said. "We were making better setting choices and our hitters were statistically much better."
Part of the turnaround can be attributed to the fact that none of the tournament teams were Top 20 teams like Central Missouri. But all three tournament teams all had better seasons than UAA did last year.
"I honestly think we stopped playing scared," Scott said. "There was maybe some beginning nerves. We've come together as a team.
"We would love another shot at Central Missouri."
Be careful what you wish for. UAA won't get another shot at the highly ranked Jennies, but in two weeks from now, the Seawolves will play in the Concordia Classic in St. Paul, Minn., where they'll face two teams ranked in the top five of the NCAA Division II rankings.
All-tournament Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational
All-Tournament Team
Most Outstanding Player: Calli Scott, UAA
Other selections: Rhea Cardwell, UAA; Rachel Kidwell, UAA; Stacie Meisner, UAA; Manuela Nesheva, Harding University; Sharon Schaffner, Texas Woman's University; Danielle Veitenheimer, Texas Woman's University.
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