Warriors fall in opener at national tourney

11-28-07

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite winning the opening game, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team never could get into a rhythm and fell to University of Texas-Brownsville 28-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-25 in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament at Columbia College on Wednesday.

The loss puts LCSC at 0-1 in pool play and likely means the Warriors will have to win their final two pool matches to advance. Only the top two finishers from each of the five pools advance to bracket play, which begins on Friday.

LCSC’s final two pool matches are on Thursday when it faces Virginia-Wise at 7 a.m., PDT, and then No. 2-ranked California-Baptist at 4 p.m. LCSC, 25-7 overall, is the tournament’s No. 9 seed, while Texas-Brownsville, 34-7, is the No. 12 seed. Virginia-Wise, 25-14 is the No. 19 seed. California-Baptist is 28-4 and has lost all three of its matches against top-ranked Fresno Pacific.

The Warriors got off to a bit of a slow start, and despite hitting .421 in the second game, they still lost.

“We just came out really tight,” LCSC coach Jen Greeny said about the Warriors’ first national appearance since 1999. “We are new to this position and sometimes it can happen. Texas-Brownsville is an experienced team and a good team, but the (Warrior) team that made it through the conference tournament and the region tournament wasn’t here today. Hopefully we’ll find that team.”

The Warriors hit .296 in the match, but Texas-Brownsville, which is making its first appearance at nationals, hit .331. LCSC did out-dig Texas-Brownsville 80-42 and outblocked the Scorpions 22.5-8.5.

Sophomore Anile Clemente led the Warriors with 20 kills, while junior Cintia Alessi added 18 kills and a game-high 23 digs. Greeny said both players from Brazil played well and it was evident that the tournament pressure didn’t get to them.

“They both have the experience of playing at the national junior college tournament last year and they both played very well today,” Greeny said. “We need to get everyone else on the same page.”

Alessi finished with a .421 hitting average.

LCSC sophomore Dana Christiansen added eight kills, while Lisa Davis had 32 assists and three of the team’s six service aces. Junior Lindsay Scott added 15 digs, while junior Julie Maciboba had eight blocks.

Claudia Alarcon led Texas-Brownsville with 26 kills and 10 digs, while Talita Milasauskas added 20 kills.

“We just need to bounce back tomorrow morning and play like we can,” Greeny said.

Also in LCSC’s pool on Wednesday, California-Baptist swept Virginia-Wise 30-10, 30-12, 30-28.