CLC qualifies for fifth-straight national tourney
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL | REGION 13B CHAMPIONSHIP
Anytime a team has qualified for five straight national tournaments, it has built a tradition of excellence.
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The Central Lakes College Raiders volleyball team added another chapter to its winning legacy Friday night as it swept the Northland Pioneers 30-17, 30-18, 30-16 for the Region 13B championship.
It was the Raiders' fifth- straight region title and qualified CLC for the NJCAA Division III tournament in two weeks.
Raiders coach Jane Peterson is the first to point out that she hasn't built the program she has without help.
Central Lakes College hitter Krista Meyer collected one of her 10 kills over the block of Northland's Alicia Lindquist (left) and Shawna Rogalla in Friday's match.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood
"There are a lot of people who make it happen," Peterson said. "A lot of high school coaches help me out, coaches who tell me about their players. There are a lot of people that help out.
"I can't overemphasize the importance of having people like Ken (Miller) and Heidi (Hahn) who are willing to do extra stuff, not just show up and sort of, kind of, care. They care a lot so that's what makes it fun, that's what makes it happen. The players care, the coaches care, and the school's very supportive of what we do."
CLC has been third in the nation four straight years. Raiders sophomore outside hitter Krista Meyer hopes that changes later this month.
"Since we know what it's like, we really want to win this time," Meyer said. "We don't want to take third. Hopefully everybody plays their game when we go down there and everybody's happy and having fun. That's our main goal."
Raiders 3, Northland 0
The key: Central Lakes blocked, served and spiked its way to a sweep of the Pioneers
Overall: CLC 29-7
Next: CLC in NJCAA Division III national tournamentNov. 16-17 at Rochester
The Raiders' goal Friday was to prevent a letdown. CLC had handled the Pioneers 3-0 and 3-1 in the regular season. Peterson was a bit nervous about that fact but had her players focus on serving and passing.
"You go back to the basics and say if we can do those two things well against teams that are better than us or teams that aren't as good as us, that will mean we'll be OK," she said.
"Serving is always something we focus on. Almost every day we practice it, but we changed the focus. The focus was not location so much as velocity. We just wanted to serve tougher.
"They were a better team than that, but they were never able to get going. Part of that was because we served well, especially at the beginning of the match."
Meyer, one of three Raiders in double figures in kills, knew CLC couldn't underestimate Northland.
Central Lakes College Raiders hitter Shayna Foote of Crosby (left) celebrated a point with teammate Rachel Voeltz of Bertha in Friday's match. Foote had 10 kills, two ace serves, 13 digs and one block.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood
"Jane told us a story a long time ago of when somebody beat them in the season and they went there and beat them, so we knew anything could happen on any given day," Meyer said. "We didn't handle it lightly."
Northland trailed by double figures in every game but put up its best fight in game three when it seized a brief 11-10 lead. The Raiders recovered to outscore Northland 20-5 the rest of the way.
"Usually, when we get behind we encourage each other," Meyer said. "After doing that we tend to pick it up a little bit. We got a little worried, we got a little scattered but I think we did a pretty good job of picking it up."
The Raiders stuffed Northland at the net and located the holes in its defense. CLC was aided by numerous Northland unforced errors.
"Our block always affects the other team," Peterson said. "It's very good. It's always there. There's rarely a hole. So when you see hitters hitting it out of bounds or just poofing it over there's a reason why they're doing that. It's because we have a big presence up there."
This year marks the first time of a two-week gap between region championships and the national tournament.
"It's way too long," Peterson said, "but we'll have a scrimmage and pretend like it's a game late next week. I don't know what we'll do. We'll probably serve and pass a lot. It will be a lot of days of practice but we like coming to practice. It's not a chore. I think everyone looks forward to it. That's most people's favorite time of day. Hopefully we can keep it that way."
Northland 17 18 16
Central Lakes 30 30 30
Raiders statistics
Jill Wizik 14 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs
Rachel Voeltz 4 kills, 5 digs, 7 blocks
Heather Feldewerd 4 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks
Lisa Kurtz 11 kills, 17 assists, 2 aces, 13 digs, 1 block
Shayna Foote 10 kills, 2 aces, 11 digs, 2 blocks
Erin Jugasek 5 kills, 5 digs, 5 blocks
Heather Kapinos 11 digs
Krista Meyer 10 kills, 2 aces, 14 digs, 1 block
Anna Davis Peterson 8-8 serving
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.