Friday, March 29, 2013

2013 WVC STATISTICAL LEADERS

Women’s Division
Service Aces Per Set: Molly Colman (UW-Eau Claire)
Kills Per Set: Karen Sueppel (UW-Eau Claire)
Hitting Percentage: Karen Sueppel (UW-Eau Claire)
Blocks Per Set: Justine Rosenthal (UW-Whitewater)
Assists Per Set: Nikki Welsh (UW-Whitewater)
Digs Per Set: Ashley Howard (UW-Eau Claire)

Men’s Division I
Service Aces Per Set: Bill Meidenbauer (UW-Oshkosh)
Kills Per Set: Alec Redlich (Lakeland College)
Hitting Percentage: Thomas Niswonger (Marquette University)
Blocks Per Set: Dan Ruys (UW-Oshkosh)
Assists Per Set: Dayton Erickson (Lakeland College)
Digs Per Set: Rob Fishman (Marquette University)

Thursday, March 28, 2013

2013 REGULAR SEASON WRAPS-UP

The women of UW-Eau Claire “A” have established themselves as the team to beat entering the WVC State Championships (March 29 & 30). The Blugolds won four matches without dropping a set to claim the top spot at the 4th and final women’s playdate hosted by UW-La Crosse on March 9th. They have won 3 of the 4 playdates held this season including the last 3 in a row and now have their sights set on a WVC State Championship. 

The Midwest 10 conference championships were held on March 2nd at Northern Illinois University and the WVC was well represented. UW-Oshkosh claimed the championship sweeping through bracket play without dropping a set. Marquette fell in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist Notre Dame and Lakeland College lost to UW-Oshkosh in the semi-finals. Several WVC players were awarded All-Conference honors; 1st Team All-Conference honors went to Bill Meidenbauer (Outside Hitter, UW-Oshkosh), Dan Ruys (Middle Blocker, UW- Oshkosh), Alex Redlich (Outside Hitter, Lakeland College), Nick Manning (Outside Hitter, Marquette University). 2nd Team All-Conference honors went to Travis Hudson (Setter, UW- Oshkosh), Nick Mueller (Outside Hitter, UW-Oshkosh), and Brett Kaczmarek (Outside Hitter, Lakeland College). Rob Fishman (Libero, Marquette University) was awarded Defensive Player of the Year. 

The WVC trifecta of Lakeland College, Marquette University, and UW-Oshkosh just completed the MIVA Championships this past weekend on the campus of Michigan State University. Marquette bowed out in its opening match of the gold bracket with a tough 3 set loss to Grand Valley. Lakeland rode the strong play of their outside hitters to victories over Notre Dame and Illinois State before losing to Illinois in the semi-finals. Illinois would go on to beat UW-Oshkosh in 3 sets in the finals. UW-O sat around for much of the day, earning a first round bye in bracket play before dismantling UW-Milwaukee and Purdue to reach the finals which did not begin until 4:30pm. 

The Men’s JV standings are crowded at the top despite an imbalanced schedule to due to some forfeits and poor weather preventing teams from traveling. UW-Oshkosh II leads the pack with a record of 7-0 and only one set loss. Marquette University II, Moody Bible Institute, and UW-Oshkosh III all only have match loss and figure to be the biggest threat to make some noise at the WVC State Championships.