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Nov. 7, 2008Central sidelined in league tourney
DUBUQUE—Central College saw its volleyball season come to an early close as second-seeded Simpson College sidelined the third-seeded Dutch 25-23, 25-19, 25-17.
Earlier Friday, Central (21-15) got past Cornell 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 25-21. The Rams ended the year at 16-16.
Simpson (20-13) advances to meet league champion Loras College in the tourney title match Saturday at 2 p.m. for a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.
Coach Kent Clayberg said unforced errors were the difference in the opening set against Simpson. The Dutch made seven service errors along with two blocking errors.
“We dug ourselves a gigantic hole,” he said. “But the players did fight hard. To make that many errors and be right there at the end is impressive.”
But the Dutch couldn’t come any closer in the other sets. The Dutch missed 12 serves in the match. Outside hitter Michelle Ripperger (junior, Urbandale) had eight kills and setter Megan Callahan (senior, Dubuque, Wahlert HS) had 19 assists.
Against Cornell, Ripperger had 14 kills and hit .308 while middle hitter Lindsay Jennings (junior, Atkins, Benton HS) had 13 kills and four blocks while also hitting .308. Freshman middle hitter Haley Brillhart (Pella) had 10 kills with four blocks while hitting a match-high .471. Callahanhad 34 assists while libero Chelsea Grieger (freshman, Pella) had 26 digs.
“We changed defenses from what we ran against Cornell earlier,” Clayberg said. “We executed that really well. But offensively we were pretty choppy.”
Central graduates three seniors: Callahan, outside hitter Miranda Kouba (Dubuque, Wahlert HS) and defensive specialist Maggie Nowicki (Madison, Wis., Edgewood HS).
“Those are three young women who know what Central volleyball really is,” Clayberg said. “They believe in Central volleyball and epitomize the very best of our program. I’m proud of all three of them, I love all three of them and it was great being their coach for four years. Their influence will be evident in the program, I’m sure, for the next several years.”
It was Central’s 17th straight 20-win season.