Men's volleyball places 2nd

Leopards captain Nate Michael puts one down against Springfield's Brandon Mueller during game one.

by Amanda Stutevoss
Sports Editor

photography by Tom Galaraga

The University of La Verne Leopards were ranked No. 1 entering the Molten Division III Men's Volleyball Invitational held April 23-24, in New York City. ULV, however, left the big apple without the title.

Despite a slow start, the team inched closer to the championship Monday night in its three game sweep over Lehman College of New York during first round competition.

"We came out slow (Monday) because we haven't played a match in two weeks," said ULV coach Jack Coberly about the Leopards' sluggish first game, 30-25.

However the Leopards struck the Lehman Lightning and won the next two games, 30-16 and 30-22.

"(Lehman) was better than we expected," said junior setter Scott Alley. "But overall our team is good at adapting."

Alley, who came into the tournament with 827 assists, added an impressive 35 during round one competition.

Senior standout Nate Michael, a two time Division III AVCA Volleyball Player of the Week and the MVP of the Molten Classic hosted by La Verne in early March, entered the tournament averaging 4.43 kills per game, holding a .319 hitting percentage and leading the Leopards with 29 service aces, led ULV with 11 kills in the match.

"(Monday) we had the opportunity to find our groove," said Michael. "It was a great chance for us to see how we perform in pressure situations."

Although the Lightning did not come out victorious, 6'8" freshman Alejandro Flores had a match high 21 kills.

"He certainly had the hard hit against us," Coberly said. "We needed to get a good block up."

Junior middle hitter Nate Silva led the Leopards with 4 assisted blocks, also contributing 6 kills for ULV.

The Leopards attribute the round one win partly to the help they received from their bench.

"One of the things that has really helped us this year is our depth," Coberly said. "I have a lot of faith in our second string."

New York native sophomore Eric Conley came out and hit an errorless .750, leading the Leopards in hitting percentage on the night, contributed 3 of the Leopards 45 kills.

"As a second string, when you get the opportunity to play in a big game, the feeling is unbelievable," Conley said.

After a 4-5 start against primarily Division I schools, the Leopards, a conference free independent school, earned 12 wins and ended its season undefeated at home.

ULV entered the Molten National Invitational, hosted by No. 2 seeded New York University, as the No. 1 in the nation with a record of 16-7, and their win Monday night helped silence any doubters of the Leopards' talent.

The first round win would advance the Leopards to the championship game Tuesday night against the defending champions, of Springfield College, who also won the tournament in its inaugural year (1997). They were coming off of a hot win where they battled back from a two game deficit to upset NYU in five games.

Tuesday night the Leopards would try finalizing their quest to championship, but would come up short. The Leopards were upset in five games, by the Springfield Pride of Massachusetts, 28-30, 30-27, 30-27, 30-28 and 15-11.

"We definitely didn't have our best game tonight," said assistant coach Morgan Coberly. "Our team wanted it bad, we just didn't have it tonight."

The Leopards led Springfield in the kills department with help from hitting powerhouses seniors Nate Michael, Will Paulson, and juniors David Engel and Jake Swann who had 24, 16, 18, 16 kills respectively.

Michael, who had a match high of 24 kills, was selected to the all-tournament team, along with teammate junior-setter Scott Alley.

"It always feels good to get recognition from others, but I really don't take any credit for that accomplishment," Michael said. "I credit that all to my coaches and the other guys on the team; that is how a team works."

Alley, who added 75 more assists under his belt topped his opposition, Springfield's Tucker Short by 17 assists on the night.

"I feel good. Tonight I completed my personal goal of being selected all-tournament," said Alley. "And one out of two isn't bad."

A game four loss by the Leopards forced a fifth game. After an unsteady lead the Leopards sacrificed three points to Springfield blockers, moving the score to 12-8. After a quick run by the Leopards to score three, the Pride stepped up its game, and advanced to match point.

On a serve from Michael, the Pride set a quick ball over the net. ULV setter Alley set Paulson on the attack, which went long, ending game five by a score of 15-11.

"I've been playing volleyball for 10 years," Swann said. "This was the best game that I have ever seen and the team that wanted it more tonight won it."

Engel had the leading attack percentage for the Leopards at .567, putting down 18 of his 3o attempts, with one error.

"I think we played unbelievably," Engel said. "We really laid it out on the line."

Paulson who leads the Leopards in digs with a 1.98 digging percentage per game, had 17 digs, a match high for both teams.

"We played really well," Paulson said. "There are always little mistakes that I know I made, but overall I am happy.

Senior middle hitter and co-captain Tom Hilton came off the bench and put down 4 kills. Hilton is the only Leopard from the 1999 championship team.

"We were the favorites coming in, but I am not at all ashamed of how we played. We put it all out there, and we left it on the court," Hilton said.

Libero Jared Dodson returns the ball against Lehman during game two of match. The Leopards defeated Lehman to advance to the championships against Springfield.

Nate Michael and Nate Silva go up for a block during game two of the championship match against Springfield.

Setter Scott Alley sets one of the outside hitters during game four of the championship match against Springfield. From his performance during the tournament, Alley earned a position on the Molten Division III National Championship All-Tournament Team.

Nate Michael was also awarded a position on the All Tournament Team, and through his combined efforts with Alley, they helped lead their team to the national championships, placing second.

For senior Tom Hilton, this was the last Division III volleyball match of his college career. Hilton began his career with the Leopards as a freshman and is the only current member to have been to a previous national championship match.