The volleyball team lifts their 2009 NCAA Division III national championship trophy as they celebrate their 3-1 victory over top-ranked Juniata College. The Bears will unveil their championship banner in the Field House at 3 p.m. Sunday. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

The festivities kick off after the basketball doubleheader against Emory University concludes. At 3 p.m., the 2009 volleyball team will be presented with its championship rings and have its national championship banner unveiled. The banner will join nine other volleyball championship banners. Attractions for fans include national championship posters for all in attendance and T-shirts for a limited number of students and faculty with an ID card.

The Bears captured their NCAA-record 10th national championship with a 3-1 victory over No. 1 Juniata College on Nov. 21, 2009. Sophomore Lauren Budde was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 championship with 15 kills and five blocks in the game. Sophomore Kristen Thomas and freshman Kelly Pang were also tapped for the all-tournament team. The American Volleyball Coaches Association also chose Pang as its Division III National Freshman of the Year.

The 2009 title marked head coach Rich Luenemann’s third victory in the national championship game. Luenemann was also named AVCA’s Division III Coach of the Year.

“It feels good to know that the banner is going to hang there forever,” said senior Erin Albers, co-captain of the volleyball team. “[People should] show their support, not just for our team, but for the soccer team because they’re deserving.”

The University will also honor the 2009 national runner-up women’s soccer team. The Bears’ appearance in the title game was the first in program history. Wash. U. fell to top-ranked and undefeated defending champion Messiah College 1-0 on Dec. 5, 2009, in San Antonio.

Senior captain Libby Held and fellow senior Caryn Rosoff both earned National Collegiate Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America honors, with Rosoff being named to the first team and Held earning a spot on the second team.

Their squad tied a Wash. U. record with 17 wins en route to their fourth straight UAA championship and national championship game appearance.

“It’s a testament to the students the university attracts, but also to the students that it develops during their time here,” co-captain of the women’s soccer team senior Becca Heymann said.

With additional reporting by Johann Qua Hiansen

Washington University's volleyball team captured their tenth national championship title with a 3-1 win over No. 1 Juniata College. The Bears celebrate their win in University Heights, Ohio. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — Time to put another banner up in the rafters. The Washington University women’s volleyball team is back on top.

On the grandest of all stages, the Bears shook off a slow start and defeated the Juniata College Eagles on Saturday (18-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-21) to claim the NCAA Division III National Championship at the DeCarlo Varsity Center at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

“This is easily one of the greatest success stories I’ve ever been a part of,” head coach Rich Luenemann said.

The championship was the team’s 10th—the most of any school in Division III—and its second in the last three seasons.

“It doesn’t feel real,” senior co-captain Erin Albers said. “This is the best we could have possibly done.”

Fresh off of a thrilling five-set victory the previous day against Hope College, in which the Bears rallied from being down two sets to one, the team had one more strong performance in them. They finished the season at 34-4, with some noteworthy contests and victories along the way to the championship.

“I honestly can’t believe that any of this is happening,” junior co-captain Marya Kaminski said. Kaminski had her best game of the season with 15 kills and a .588 attack percentage. “I feel like I’m in a dream.”

But this contest, like the team’s 3-0 sweep over Juniata on Sept. 18, was far from easy.

Almost immediately in the first set, after a bounty of errors in the opening points, the team found itself on the wrong end of a 9-2 deficit and without either of its timeouts. Trailing by as much as eight points, the Bears rallied their way back and brought the score to 15-13. But they never got closer than that, and a service error ended an ugly first set in which the team hit only .108 percent with seven errors.

“We didn’t have great focus out there,” Luenemann said about the set. “We weren’t executing.”

Then the Red and Green started executing. After trading the first few points, the Bears went on a 7-1 run to go up 12-5 in the second set. Despite a number of service errors, the Bears held the lead throughout most of the set and looked to be in good shape up 20-14.

Slowly, Juniata chipped away and fought off three set points to tie the set at 24. Facing a must-win situation to avoid dropping to a perilous 2-0 hole in the match, sophomore Lauren Budde put down a kill—her fourth of the set—to put the Bears back at set point, and an attack error by Juniata tied the match at one set apiece.

Revitalized, the Bears came out in the third set and put on a show. After another even start with the teams tied at 9, the Bears slowly started to inch away from the Eagles and then pulled away at the end, as a five-point run behind sophomore Tricia Brandt’s serves and a kill by sophomore Kristen Thomas put Wash. U. within one set of the title.

Thomas and Kaminski both had five kills in the set, while freshman Marilee Fisher put up 15 assists to help spark the Bears’ run.

The match’s final set started unlike any of the other three—with the Bears taking an early lead. A long rally on the seventh point of the set ended with a kill by Budde—her 12th at that point—and gave the Bears a 4-3 lead that they never surrendered. Juniata came back and brought the lead to within a point on two early occasions—at 10-9 and 11-10—but the Bears responded with an 8-2 run to go up 19-12.

Fighting for their season, Juniata brought the set back to 22-18, forcing Luenemann to take a timeout. Wash. U. inched forward and came within a point. And finally, after avoiding the first match point and bringing the set to 24-21, Juniata’s Kristin Noetzel put the ensuing serve into the net.

That’s when the celebration began.

After a lengthy team celebration and an acknowledgment of the outstanding season Juniata had as well, the Bears were awarded their plaques individually. Three Bears were named to the All-Tournament Team: Thomas, freshman Kelly Pang and Budde, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 NCAA Championship with 93 kills and 87 digs.

Despite losing two of the team’s opening-day starters to injuries over the course of the year and despite being a very young team, the Bears were unable to be stopped by most teams this season.

“Maybe we aren’t the most talented, maybe we don’t have the biggest hitters, but we came out with the most heart,” Albers said.

Albers, along with fellow senior co-captain Laura Brazeal, was a key part of the senior leadership that held together a team comprised of largely freshmen and sophomores. After losing the national championship match to Juniata as freshmen three years ago, they became imperative members of the teams that have won twice since then.

“The team really came together at the end of the season, and we started off with great team chemistry from the beginning,” Brazeal said, “and that’s what made the season amazing for me.”

“Perhaps the best captains I’ve ever had,” Luenemann said. “Whatever you ask of a captain, they did.”

They have set in place the pieces for more title runs in the next few years. The likes of Pang, Fisher, Budde, Kaminski and Brandt will remain key parts of the team for at least another year each.

But for now, they’re going to celebrate what they have accomplished: bringing the title back to Wash. U.

“It’s surreal. It’s amazing,” Pang said. “I’m so proud of us.”

Volleyball:

In a rematch between two familiar foes, Washington University triumphed over Juniata College 3-1.

With the victory, the Bears extended their NCAA record to ten national championship titles. This is the 17 NCAA team title in Washington University history.

Staking an 18-12 lead in the second set, the Bears held on for the 26-24 win.  The Bears took the momentum into set three with a 25-17 win.

Juniata brought the fourth set to 10-8 but the Bears came back with an 18-12 lead.

Washington University extended their lead and won the championship with a 25-21 on a Juniata serving error.

Full story

Women’s Soccer:

The Washington University women’s soccer team advanced to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas with a 2-1 win over Calvin College.

Senior Becca Heymann scored for the Bears to knot the game at one all in the 43rd minute. Sophomore Lee Ann Felder one timed the game winner off a cross from senior Caryn Rosoff.

Full story

Editor’s Note: Stick with studlife.com for  full coverage of both teams. Updates from Cleveland, Ohio can also be found on Twitter (@studlifesports).

Albers led the No.4 Washington University volleyball team with a career high 25 kills to a 3-2 come from behind victory over No. 6 Hope College in the NCAA Division III National Semifinal.

Freshman Kelly Pang bumps the ball against Carthage College in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship match. Wash. U. advances to the National Championship match against Juniata College after defeating Hope College 3-2. Pang led the Bears with 15 digs. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

After taking control in the first set with a 25-21 win, the Red and Green struggled against the Flying Dutchmen. Hope set the tone early and maintained their leads in the second set (25-22) and third set (25-15). With Hope up 10-5 in the fourth set, the Bears seemed ready for an early departure.

But two Hope errors and a kill by sophomore Lauren Budde closed the gap to 8-10. Wash. U. continued to fight to knot the score and were stymied until an attack error by Drew Horst and back to back solo blocks by Budde and freshman Drew Hargrave gave the Red and Green a 17-16 advantage.

The Flying Dutchmen and the Bears continued to trade points until the score was knotted at 25. Budde made a kill and a Hope attack error gave new life to the Wash. U. offense as the teams headed to the decisive fifth set. Wash. U. and Hope had faced each other earlier in the season, with the Flying Dutchmen taking a 3-1 win.

Albers took control in the first set with the Bears’ first three kills as the teams traded points. Hope countered and took a 5-3 lead before Wash. U. battled back with a 4-1 run. The Flying Dutchmen took a timeout in an effort to regain the momentum but another attack error gave the Bears an 8-6 advantage.

A service ace by freshman Kelly Pang extended the lead before both teams traded points once more. Wash. U.’s offense stalled and the Flying Dutchmen strung together a four point run to put the score at 13-11.  The Bears used their final timeout and sophomore Kristen Thomas came out with a kill. After a kill from Hope’s Jacie Fielder brought the score to 14-12, the Bears capitalized on a setting error and clinched a spot in the National Championship game.

Pang led the Bears defensively with 15 digs and senior Laura Brazeal chipped in ten. Albers, Budde and Thomas had double digits kills with 25, 19 and 14 respectively. The team could not be reached for comments.

The Bears face No. 1 Juniata College at 7 p.m. (ET) in University Heights, Ohio. Juniata advanced after dispatching No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh In their last meeting, Wash. U. defeated Juniata 3-0 (28-26, 41-39,27-25) on September 18 in the Teri Clemens Invitational.

The volleyball team advanced to the NCAA National Semifinal against Hope College after defeating Colorado College 3-1 in the quarterfinal on Thursday. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

The Washington University women’s volleyball team reached the NCAA Final Four on Thursday afternoon with a win over Colorado College (25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14) at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

The win put the team two more victories away from its 10th national championship. Senior co-captain Erin Albers and sophomore Lauren Budde both registered 12 kills for the Bears, while four players—Budde, freshman Kelly Pang, senior co-captain Laura Brazeal and freshman Marilee Fisher—all registered double-digit counts in digs. Fisher also tallied 42 assists.

Coach Rich Luenemann reacts after the volleyball team clinched the regional championship. The team defeated Colorado College on Thursday to advance to the Final Four. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

The Bears committed only 16 errors in the match for a mark of four errors per set, their best showing in the NCAA tournament.

After controlling the first set and barely losing the second, the turning point for the Bears came in the third set. Trailing from the beginning of the third set, the Bears went on an 11-4 run at the end of the set to take a crucial 2-1 lead in the match. The Bears followed with a dominant fourth set in which they hit .484 as a team with only one error.

Prior to the match, Albers, Pang and Fisher were awarded American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American honors. Pang earned first-team honors and was also named the NCAA Division III Freshman of the Year, while Albers and Fisher both garnered second-team recognition.

Wash. U. faces Hope College at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Hope advances after a 3-1 victory over Tufts University. Hope handed the Bears their first loss of the year on Sept. 5 with a 3-1 win.

And that’s just how the team wanted it.

Senior tri-captain Erin Albers reached her 1,000th career kill while freshman Kelly Pang set a school record for digs in a single season. Both milestones were overshadowed by another spectacular weekend of play from the Bears as a whole, who took three wins here at the Wash. U. Field House in the NCAA tournament Central Regional. The Bears advance to University Heights, Ohio, with a chance to play for a national championship.

The Bears defeated Webster University on Thursday night (25-17, 25-14, 25-27, 25-15) and took out St. Mary’s University on Friday (25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22). With one win between them and a trip to the NCAA finals, the team saved its best performance for last as it took out No. 8 Carthage College in straight sets (26-24, 25-23, 25-12) on Saturday night.

“It’s fantastic. This weekend was very high energy,” sophomore Lauren Budde said.

Budde was the star of Thursday night’s game, as she racked up a career-high 22 kills to go along with 12 digs, four aces, and 1.5 blocks in helping the team dispatch of Webster in the first round. With the exception of the third set, in which the Bears were defeated 27-25, the team had jumped well ahead by the mid-point in each set and controlled the game.

Friday night was when Pang had her time to shine, as she registered 18 digs to put her over the school’s single-season high mark set by Nicole Hodgman in 2003. Her strong play helped the Bears through what proved to be a fairly close match against St. Mary’s.

Saturday night was when Albers reached her big mark when she put down her second kill of the game. After fighting out two very close sets against Carthage, the Bears came out firing on all cylinders in the third set, making quick work of the No. 8 team in the nation and punching their tickets to Ohio.

Some were very impressed with the individual records set by the team this weekend.

“When you get a thousand kills, that shows consistency,” head coach Rich Luenemann said. “For her to accumulate 1,000 kills for a middle blocker/attacker is an astronomical feat.”

“And how about Kelly Pang?” he added. “She set a record for digs in a season when it’s harder to accumulate digs,” referring to the fact that when the record was set in 2003 the team played more games in the season and played 30-point sets instead of 25.

But some players downplayed their individual accomplishments.

“To be honest, it doesn’t feel like a whole lot of anything,” Albers said. “This game is what we wanted and we came out here and got it, and that’s what I’m really excited about. Everybody picked it up tonight.”

“It feels really good,” Pang said, “but I think the win feels a lot sweeter because we’re one step closer to our goal.”

Pang, who led the team with 60 digs on the weekend, and Budde, who tallied a team-high 47 kills, were named to the Central Regional All-Tournament Team. Freshman Marilee Fisher was named the region’s Most Outstanding Player after setting 128 assists while also posting 17 kills and eight blocks.

The team plays Colorado College in the NCAA quarterfinals on Thursday at the DeCarlo Varsity Center at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

“We all want to win for each other,” Budde said. “We’ve stressed that in practices. Play as one. Give 100 percent every time for your teammates. Everybody did phenomenal, and everyone did a great job taking their game to the next level.”

With additional reporting by Johann Qua Hiansen

Wash. U. volleyball (28-4, 10-1 UAA) plays Webster University in first-round NCAA action at 8 p.m. on Thursday in the Field House. The other regional quarterfinals are No. 21 Nebraska Wesleyan against University of Wisconsin-Platteville at 12:30 p.m., No. 8 Carthage College  versus Simpson College at 3 p.m., and Thomas More College against St. Mary’s University at 5:30 p.m. The regional final is at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Women’s soccer (14-3-1, 5-1-1 UAA), which earned the automatic UAA bid, faces SLIAC conference champion Webster University in the first round of NCAA action at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Francis Field. No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll (Wis.) face off at 1:30 p.m. in the other first-round match. The regional championship is at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Webster’s Christy Capkovic is Division III’s leading scorer with 1.765 goals per game.

Undergraduate students have free admission with their Wash. U. IDs. Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $3 for non-Wash. U. students.

Injury update

In an e-mail, co-captain senior Libby Held wrote that everyone on the women’s soccer team is able to practice. Held wrote that she believes everyone will be ready to go for the weekend action. Senior Caryn Rosoff sat out the Nov. 7 game against the University of Chicago due to a leg injury.

According to volleyball coach Rich Luenemann, freshman setter Marilee Fisher, who sat out the UAA championship last weekend, should be able to play. Fisher is the NCAA Division III statistical leader with 11.49 assists per set. Sophomore outside hitter Erin Kasson is out for the rest of the season.

Zoë Scharf | Student Life

Freshman Meg Buker sets the ball in the UAA championship match against Emory University on Nov. 7. Buker stepped in for the entire tournament as classmate Marilee Fisher injured her ankle during warm-ups on Nov. 6. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

The Washington University women’s volleyball team lost a match this past weekend for the first time in nearly a month and a half as it dropped the final match of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship in a sweep to Emory University (25-18, 25-19, 25-21) in Chicago.

The loss, the team’s first since a loss to University of Missouri-St. Louis on Sept. 22, cost the Bears a UAA title and spoiled an otherwise stellar weekend of play in which the team swept Rochester University (25-15, 25-13, 25-23), Case Western Reserve University (25-17, 25-21, 25-14) and New York University (25-13, 25-17, 25-14).

“Certainly we played an incredibly motivated team, and we didn’t execute the skills very well,” head coach Rich Luenemann said.

The Bears hit a roadblock early on when freshman setter Marilee Fisher injured her ankle in warm-ups for the first match. Freshman Meg Buker took her place and averaged 29 assists per game for the tournament. Her strong play was a key part of the Bears’ success in their first three matches.

“You always have to go with that mentality of being prepared to go in,” Buker said. “I have a great team there to support me. That takes a lot of the pressure off because you know that you have five other girls who are going to take care of business and have your back.”

Against Rochester, sophomore Lauren Budde put on a tremendous showing, registering 16 kills to only one error while also tallying 12 digs. Budde put up a similar line in the following game against Case, with 13 kills and 12 digs.

On Saturday, the Bears came out strong again in their win against NYU. Senior co-captain Erin Albers picked up 13 kills to lead the team, which had one of its best offensive days of the season with a .390 hitting percentage.

So after three strong performances to begin the weekend, what happened against Emory?

“Really we just kind of got frazzled in that last game, it was just mental mistakes, mental errors,” sophomore Tricia Brandt said. “We had a few too many serve-outs.”

Certainly the Bears didn’t do themselves any favors against Emory, registering 20 errors. Their .150 hitting percentage was also one of their lowest outputs of the season.

“For whatever reason, that was probably not our usual self out there,” Buker said. “And we seemed to have a hard time getting the momentum back or maintaining it in the first place.”

Despite the loss, the Bears seemed content with how the weekend went. “We really played well and Meg really stepped up under the pressure and she just did a great job,” Brandt said. “We had a really strong tournament in all of our games, except this last one.”

With Wash. U. being picked as regional site for the NCAA tournament, which starts next weekend, the Bears have a great chance to put this loss behind them. Given that the team that has finished second in the UAA Tournament has won the national title each of the last two years, the team certainly isn’t put off by this one loss.

“When we got together at the end, I just said, ‘I want everybody to take two minutes and give yourself a little kick in the butt and evaluate what you could have done better,’ and certainly we’ll focus on that,” Luenemann said.

With additional reporting by Hannah Lustman

Women’s soccer
(13-2-1, 5-0-1 UAA)

Best case: UAA champion if Wash. U. beats Chicago, Case defeats Rochester

Worst case: UAA Runner-up if Wash. U. loses to Chicago, Rochester defeats Case

The No. 8 women’s soccer team holds a one-point lead over the University of Rochester and defeated the Yellowjackets 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 18.

If Rochester beats Case Western Reserve University at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night and the Bears do not defeat Chicago, the Yellowjackets will win the conference. The Bears must beat Chicago for the outright title as Rochester defeated Emory. Emory tied with Wash. U. on Oct. 17. Two ties are worse than a loss, according to senior co-captain Becca Heymann.

Volleyball
(25-3, 7-0 UAA)

Best case: UAA champion if Bears advance to championship match and win

Worst case: Place in the top four of UAA teams if they fail to make the championship match

The No. 3 Wash. U. volleyball team defeated every UAA team in round robin play, earning the top seed in this weekend’s UAA championships. No. 4 Emory University is the top seed in the other pool. The Bears swept Emory (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) on Oct. 17. Wash. U. takes on NYU, Rochester and Case in pool A. The champions of both pools play for the UAA championship.

The Bears also are the top-ranked team in the region and have a good chance of hosting at least one round of the NCAA tournament.

Men’s soccer
(9-6-3, 3-3 UAA)

Best case: If all teams lose above Wash. U. lose and the Bears win, Wash. U. will still be in fourth

Worst case: If Emory beats Carnegie Mellon and Wash. U. falls to Chicago, the Bears will be in fifth place in the UAA standings

The Bears are currently in fourth place in the UAA rankings and face Chicago (4-1-1 UAA). With losses to Carnegie Mellon and Rochester, which lead the conference with a 5-1 record, the Bears have no chance of winning UAAs. Carnegie Mellon plays Emory, while Rochester is up against Case Western Reserve.

In terms of gaining an NCAA bid, beating Chicago, the fourth-ranked team in the Central Region, would give the Bears a quality win in their favor.

The postseason fate of both soccer teams and volleyball will be announced on Nov. 9.

Senior Erin Albers and junior Marya Kaminski go up to block against Virginia Wesleyan College on Friday night. With three wins this weekend, the Bears earned the number one seed for the University Athletic Association championship next weekend in Chicago. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

As the legacy of a pair of seniors on the Washington University women’s volleyball team draws near its close, this year’s team may be close to setting in place a legacy of its own.

Senior co-captains Erin Albers and Laura Brazeal were honored Friday night in a ceremony that highlighted yet another strong weekend of play from the No. 3 Bears. Wash. U. swept Virginia Wesleyan College (25-12, 25-20, 25-16), Culver-Stockton College (25-21, 25-11, 25-16) and Rhodes College (25-13, 28-26, 25-13) over the weekend.

Against Virginia Wesleyan, the team scored points in bunches, getting seven runs of four points or more, including a nine-point run in the second set. Albers led the team with 12 kills, the last of which ended the match. Freshman Marilee Fisher had a strong showing as well, setting 33 assists in place.

Before the match against Culver-Stockton, Albers and Brazeal—a pair who have helped the team to a 128-17 record and a national title in their careers—were acknowledged for their contributions over their four years.

“It was weird to be recognized like that because we’ve always been the ones recognizing people,” Brazeal said. “So to be on the other side of that, you could really feel the love on this team.”

After the ceremony the team played another strong match, overcoming slow starts in the first and third sets to take all three. Albers again led the team with 13 kills, while Brazeal—who started the game at libero—tied freshman Kelly Pang with 12 digs.

The Bears played strongly in their lone Saturday match during the first and third sets, while overcoming a sluggish performance in the second to hold on to yet another sweep. On top of yet another excellent showing from Albers (14 kills), sophomore Lauren Budde (10 kills, 16 digs) and freshman Drew Hargrave (10 kills) helped lead the way for the Bears. Pang, Albers and Fisher were named to the all-tournament team.

When the tournament was over, two subjects were on everyone’s minds: the seniors and championships.

“Laura and Erin have been two of the most outstanding captains I have had in my coaching experience,” head coach Rich Luenemann said. “There’s no way I could come close to asking for anything else from the captains. They’re the best.”

Albers and Brazeal, two of the school’s top players in kills and digs, respectively, were both upset to see their careers come near their close.

“This team has been our family here at Wash. U., so it’s really sad that this is potentially our last home weekend,” Albers said. “I’m really going to miss all the girls, and the team has been the highlight of my Wash. U. experience.”

Yet, the two still have time to add to their lists of accomplishments.

With this weekend’s victories, the team finished a perfect October and has won 19 matches in a row against Division III opponents.

Despite the Lady Bears’ success, they refuse to get too far ahead of themselves.

“We can’t look forward to the next game, because it won’t matter if we don’t focus on the game we’re playing,” Brazeal said.

“Our concentration is on the next point,” Albers agreed. “I have a good feeling about this year, and we just need to take it slow and not get ahead of ourselves.”

The Bears will be the top seed in next weekend’s UAA tournament. They face University of Rochester at noon on Friday, Nov. 6, and Case Western Reserve University at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the Bears play New York University at noon. The championship match, should the Bears make it, begins at 4 p.m.