Leos third in nation
Campus Times
April 25, 2003
The La Verne men's volleyball team huddles together at Juniata College
before playing fourth ranked team, Stevens Institute of Technology, in the
consolation match of the Molten Division III Men's Invitational on Saturday,
April 12.
Expectations soared April 9 as the University of La Verne men's volleyball
team loaded its two buses with a sense of excitement hardly dampened by
5 a.m. weariness.
On to Ontario Airport. The destination: The Molten Division III Men's
Invitational Volleyball Championship at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.
After a swift flight to Houston then catching a plane to Pittsburgh,
waiting for rental vans while attempting to locate lost luggage and driving
three hours to Huntingdon, the Leopards were checked into their hotel and
ready to go a mere 12 hours after leaving La Verne.
But trappings of last year haunted the returners. Visions of losing
to Springfield College in five games of last year's national championship
incited a new-found sense of urgency for this year's tournament.
Entering last year as the top seed and the top-ranked Division III team
throughout the nation, beating a handful of Division I opponents, La Verne
was the unanimous favorite among even teams in the tournament.
However, the underdog third-seeded Pride of Springfield College triumphed.
This year, ULV was the underdog, entering the tournament with the third
seed and a No. 4 national ranking.
The opponent: once again, Springfield. Except this year, the Pride entered
the tournament one seed higher than ULV, at No. 2.
"Last year, we were the better team," said associate head
coach Morgan Coberly. "This year, on paper, they're the better team."
Revenge is a thirst that has a nearly unmatched need to be quenched.
La Verne began the tournament clamoring for revenge, but it proved to be
inadequate. Springfield defeated La Verne, dowsing the Leopards' hopes for
a national title two years in a row and sending ULV to the Stevens Tech
April 12.
In a contest elapsing just more than an hour, ULV secured third place
in the nation by defeating fourth seed Stevens Institute of Technology 3-0
(30-23, 30-36, 30-26) in the consolation match of the Molten Division III
Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship.
Associate head coaches Jack and Morgan Coberly utilized their entire
active roster in the season-ending match
"I wanted our young guys to know what it was like to play in the
national championships," Jack Coberly said.
Of the 13 Leopards who received time in the match, eight tallied kills,
and five earned hitting percentages of better than .400.
"This was the first time in a month our bench came in and did well,"
Jack Coberly said.
Senior Scott Alley, who was not present due to his commitment to the
U.S. Marine Corps, was the only player on the La Verne roster to not see
playing time.
However, Alley was honored by La Verne's pre-game cheer, as "Semper
Fi" echoed throughout Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of Juniata College
in Huntingdon, Penn. at the start of the match.
"Scotty's always with us," said senior middle blocker and
co-captain David Engle.
After winning the first two games easily, La Verne came to the third
with a chance to take the consolation championship. Freshman Adam Hilton
entered the match to set, replacing senior Brad Evans, who was shifted outside
to swing.
Evans played despite suffering a slight concussion diving into the bench
during the third game of the April 11 semifinal match against Springfield
College. In the Springfield contest, Evans accompanied his 34 assists with
four kills and six digs. As of the morning of April 12, Evans was "symptom-free,"
said ULV athletic trainer Kira Au.
The Leopards played to a 29-20 lead, when Hilton began setting only
seniors. At 29-23, the set went to 5-foot-11-inch senior libero Shane Haldeman
in the back row. Haldeman, who has accumulated no more than a handful of
sets throughout his entire four-year career at ULV, swung wholeheartedly,
blistering the ball into the middle of the net.
"I was swinging for the hands," Haldeman said, " and
I hit the elbows."
Three points later, the set went to Evans, who put it away for the third-place
honor.
To get to the consolation match, ULV dropped its semifinal match of
the Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship April
11 to Springfield College, 30-18, 30-23 and 30-23.
As anticipated by La Verne coaching staff, sophomore outside hitter
Brandon Mueller and senior outside hitter Greg Lardo of Springfield proved
to be the most substantial factors in the match.
Lardo and Mueller are Springfield volleyball's equivalent to Kobe and
Shaq. In the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship
match against Juniata College on April 6, which Juniata won 3-1, Lardo and
Mueller combined for a total of 40 of the team's 62 kills. Of the team total
of 144 sets in the match, the duo saw 83.
In the conference semifinals against Vassar College on April 5, Lardo
and Mueller posted 43 of the team's 59 kills on 95 of the team's total of
150 sets.
In both matches, Lardo and Mueller each hit at least .250.
To combat the duo, ULV's game plan to take away the line on the block
and force Lardo and Mueller to hit cross court was implemented, but the
pair found other ways.
"There was no line," Mueller said. "I just tried to hit
it somewhere around the block on the right side."
Mueller led Springfield with 17 kills on 39 attempts for a hitting percentage
of .333. Lardo followed closely with 15 kills on 29 attempts for a percentage
of .310.
"Good players are going to get their kills," Morgan Coberly
said. "There's only so much area you can take away."
To battle La Verne's concentration on Lardo and Mueller, Springfield
also decentralized its offense, integrating sophomore middle blocker Ricky
Albano and junior opposite Clay Spiegel into the attack.
Albano had an errorless nine kills on 13 attempts, nearly doubling his
regular season kills per game average of 1.73.
Spiegel put away seven balls for an average of 2.33 kills per game,
which exceeded his regular season total by more than a kill.
"We wanted to just keep them off balance," said Springfield
head coach Charlie Sullivan.
La Verne's staple advantage in the match-their middles-saw little offensive
action.
Together, senior middle blockers David Engle and Nate Silva received
only 28 of the 102 sets dealt out by ULV.
This lack of looks to the middles was because of sub-par Leopard passing,
Morgan Coberly said.
"You got to pass the ball to get kills," he said.
Freshman outside hitter Matt Cornell provided the majority of the Leopard
offensive attack with a match-high 18 kills on 33 attempts for a percentage
of .394.
"It's great to see a freshman step up offensively," Morgan
Coberly said.
But overall, La Verne left the match with positive thoughts about its
performance, specifically the implementation of the pre-conceived game plan.
"I'm really proud of this team," Jack Coberly said. "If
we were going to play (Springfield) again tomorrow night, we would use the
same game plan."
The national championship matches were Jack Coberly's last as the head
coach of the La Verne men's volleyball team.
The consolation win sends Jack Coberly out on a high note, but not before
he could offer his final team at La Verne a few words.
"My life lesson to you: Keep your head up; keep smiling; and do
your best in everything you do."
In the national championship bout that followed La Verne's consolation
match, second-seed Springfield upset No. 1 seed Juniata, 27-30, 31-29, 30-24
and 30-27.
With their upset in the championship match, the Pride brought home a
third consecutive national title, a feat never before accomplished in the
Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship.
To get to the final, Juniata defeated Stevens Tech April 11 in the second
semifinal, 30-16, 37-39, 30-16 and 30-16.
The men's volleyball team took ten minutes out of the morning practice
on April 11 for affirmations. Each member visualizes and mentally prepares
himself for the upcoming match against three-time Division III champion,
Springfield.
Senior setter Brad Evans passes the ball during game three of the consolation
match against Stevens Institute of Technology on April 12, 2003. Evans led
the match in digs with 10 and had 29 assists for the night. La Verne won
in three games, 30-23, 30-26 and 30-26, and beat Stevens Institute of Technology
for the second time this season. The win over Stevens Tech gave La Verne
a season record of 12-17.
Freshman setter Adam Hilton and sophomore outside hitter Elliot Naito
listen to Morgan Coberly read a letter from former teammate Liko Tubbs encouraging
the team to give it their all against Springfield in the first match of
the final four.
Co-captain David Engle leads the Leopards in stretches during the first
practice at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Penn.
Senior outside hitter Josh Miller digs the ball in game two against Spring-field
College on Friday, April 11. Last year La Verne was runner-up in the invitational
after falling to Springfield in the championship match at New York University.
Senior middle blocker David Engle blocks a hit from Springfield's Brandon
Mueller in game one. Engle was second for La Verne in kills in the match
with nine against Springfield. ULV lost 30-28, 30-23 and 30-23 to Springfield
in the semi-finals in Huntingdon, Pa.
Seniors Brad Evans and Shane Haldeman shake hands with the members of
Springfield Men's Volleyball team after the first round of semifinal play
at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. La Verne lost 30-28, 30-23 and 30-23
against Springfield College, Massachusetts at 5:30 p.m. on April 11, 2003.
Springfield went on to beat Juniata in the championship match and claim
the Division III title for the third consecutive season.
