2013 COLLEGIATE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
BIG TIME: Wisconsin freshman setter Lauren Carlini lived up to her reputation in leadng the Badgers to the champi- onship match. (Photo: Mark Selders)
fi nal score of 25-14, 25- 13, 25-16 was a surprising contrast to an otherwise great 30-3 season for UW that included a dramatic fi ve-set regional fi nal vic- tory over conference rival University of Southern California.
“It stinks,” said
Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin when asked to share his thoughts. “The amount of time that the players put in – the invest- ment – it’s so high that the pain can be deep. And we’re feeling that right now.”
Props go to Husky fans for showing up two nights later anyway to watch the fi rst all-Big Ten fi nal in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball his- tory. Attendance of 14,779 nearly equaled the Thursday night crowd of 14,975. And judg- ing by the noise, most of those Husky fans, still smarting no doubt from the beat down their team was given 48 hours earlier, were pulling for the Badgers. Hancock said later she even heard a few boos when things went right for the Nittany Lions.
“It was like, ‘Dang, tough crowd,’” she said. “But they’re a great team. Why not
cheer for the underdog?”
In the championship match, the underdog had a real chance to pull even in sets at 1-1 after Penn State took Set 1. That they didn’t highlights the other side of the serving equa- tion. When you serve well, it’s a huge advan- tage. But it can go the other way on you, too, which is why the popular saying “win the serve-receive battle” broadens the message beyond just serving tough. Leading 23-22 in Set 2, the Badgers missed a key serve, and
they missed another one two points later when they were up 24-23. Wisconsin wasn’t done, though. They took Set 3, and were up 23-21 in Set 4. It clearly appeared at that point that the mo- mentum had shifted. They were doing what they needed to do, making the digs, siding out, pushing the second-seeded Nittany Lions toward Set 5.
And then Hancock went back to serve. She served an ace, then scorched a second serve that forced Wisconsin setter Lauren Carlini to wade outside the 10-foot line to set. That produced a point to tie it. Wisconsin called timeout, but it didn’t faze Hancock. She came back on the court, ripped two more scorchers, and Penn State scored on both of them. And that was that. Confetti time for Penn State.
“Micha has dug their team out of a lot of holes with her serving – or certainly created some point runs that have changed matches before – so it wasn’t surprising to see her do it (in the championship match),” McCutch- eon said. “But it was great to see an athlete
Continued on P. 44
SOLID: Megan Courtney was part of a tall frontline for Penn State, but she helped in the backcourt, too. (Photo: Mark Selders)
42 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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