Friday: Central advances to regional final
*Conor Nicholl*
The thrill ride nearly continued for one more day.
No. 7 West Florida, the lowest seed left in the NCAA Tournament, came within a single point of defeating No. 3 Central Missouri and moving onto the South Central Regional final.
One day after knocking off No. 2 Washburn, the Argonauts almost beat a pair of top-ranked MIAA schools in two days. However, the Jennies held on in a scintillating, thrilling and topsy-turvy match and advanced to the Round of 16. Central Missouri advanced to their third regional final in four years with a 3-2 (28-30, -26, -14, 26-30, 19-17) win.
“That was a match that both teams could have won,” West Florida head coach Melissa Wolter said. “I think everyone in the arena was pulling for us to win one way or another. We were one swing away.”
After falling behind 2-1, the Argonauts rebounded to capture game four and had four match points in the final game. The first one came at 14-13 after outside hitter Naiara Fernandes slammed home one of her game-high 34 kills. Central Missouri middle hitter Jillian Ohrman came back with a strong kill, a trend that would continue the rest of the set.
The teams traded points – the Argonauts had match point, but the Jennies would come back and tie the score.
It appeared the Mules won at 18-16, but the official ruled a net violation on the Mules. Still, Andrea Robertson delivered a kill at 17 all and Jillian Ohrman and Katie Tarka – the Jennies’ two best players – laid down a perfect double block for the victory.
“Jillian played a terrific match,” UCM head coach Peggy Martin said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. But there are about four players that if we didn’t have, we wouldn’t have been here.”
Ohrman and Tarka were the top two players for the Jennies, keeping Central in the match and saving match points down the stretch. Ohrman, who finished the regular season averaging nearly four kills a game and ranking second in the MIAA in blocks/game, led the Jennies with 19 kills, a .417 hitting percentage and four blocks.
Her blocking forced Fernandes into 87 attacks in the match – an incredibly high total if for two matches. She had to work hard the entire way.
“We wanted her to hit against a double block the entire night,” Martin said. “She had a lot of kills, but it took her [nearly] 90 attempts to do it.”
It appeared early that the Argonauts could run their entire offense through Fernandes win their second straight match. In the first set, Fernandes – who had 62 attempts in the victory against Washburn – collected nine kills on just 16 swings in the first game, helping lead the Argonauts to a 30-28 victory.
Her three kills in an 8-2 run deep in the set propelled the squad to a 27-23 lead.
Central made Fernandes work a lot harder in the second game. After needing just 16 attacks for her nine kills in game 1, the Mules blocked more consistently, forcing the outside hitter to register 30 attacks in the second game alone.
After tying the match at 25 all, the Mules went on a 5-1 run – helped by an attack error from Fernandes – and took the set 30-26.
“We weren’t able to sustain it late in game two,” Wolter said. “Central is a very tough team to play against and we needed to put them away.”
The Mules rolled in game three, 30-14. Fernandes started to wear down with such a heavy workload. She accumulated just 10 attacks in the third game, and had twice as many errors (6) as kills (3).
Still, the Argonauts wouldn’t go quietly, using their trademark cheers as fuel.
“After the third set, some of the players were sitting on the bench,” Fernandes said. ”A few of us said, ‘Get up, get up.’ We started singing, ‘Let’s go, Argos, let’s go.’ We just all pulled together and played our hearts out 24/7.”
The Jennies took an 8-3 lead, but after a timeout, WFU turned the set around and won 30-26.
“[West Florida] never quit playing,” Martin said. “They just battled, battled and battled. They were determined out there.”
The Argonauts spread around the offense, using Danielle Spitzer and Carly Moyers more often.
In the fifth set, though, Ohrman led the Mules attack with three kills, but the Argonauts couldn’t focus on just one player.
“We had trouble with the slide the entire day,” Wolter said. “It wasn’t anything that we did defensively, it was more what they did offensively. Jillian is a great player, but we couldn’t just minimize her like we could Washburn. They don’t have one player that you can focus on.”
And that depth and team defense allowed the Jennies to take an early 8-5 lead in game five. The Argonauts battled back, feeding off the energy of constant cheering, handslaps and fist pumps.
“In a big match, it’s all about adrenaline,” Wolter said. “It’s not about X’s and O’s.”
West Florida tied it at 11, setting the stage for the incredible finish.
The thrill ride nearly continued for one more day.
No. 7 West Florida, the lowest seed left in the NCAA Tournament, came within a single point of defeating No. 3 Central Missouri and moving onto the South Central Regional final.
One day after knocking off No. 2 Washburn, the Argonauts almost beat a pair of top-ranked MIAA schools in two days. However, the Jennies held on in a scintillating, thrilling and topsy-turvy match and advanced to the Round of 16. Central Missouri advanced to their third regional final in four years with a 3-2 (28-30, -26, -14, 26-30, 19-17) win.
“That was a match that both teams could have won,” West Florida head coach Melissa Wolter said. “I think everyone in the arena was pulling for us to win one way or another. We were one swing away.”
After falling behind 2-1, the Argonauts rebounded to capture game four and had four match points in the final game. The first one came at 14-13 after outside hitter Naiara Fernandes slammed home one of her game-high 34 kills. Central Missouri middle hitter Jillian Ohrman came back with a strong kill, a trend that would continue the rest of the set.
The teams traded points – the Argonauts had match point, but the Jennies would come back and tie the score.
It appeared the Mules won at 18-16, but the official ruled a net violation on the Mules. Still, Andrea Robertson delivered a kill at 17 all and Jillian Ohrman and Katie Tarka – the Jennies’ two best players – laid down a perfect double block for the victory.
“Jillian played a terrific match,” UCM head coach Peggy Martin said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. But there are about four players that if we didn’t have, we wouldn’t have been here.”
Ohrman and Tarka were the top two players for the Jennies, keeping Central in the match and saving match points down the stretch. Ohrman, who finished the regular season averaging nearly four kills a game and ranking second in the MIAA in blocks/game, led the Jennies with 19 kills, a .417 hitting percentage and four blocks.
Her blocking forced Fernandes into 87 attacks in the match – an incredibly high total if for two matches. She had to work hard the entire way.
“We wanted her to hit against a double block the entire night,” Martin said. “She had a lot of kills, but it took her [nearly] 90 attempts to do it.”
It appeared early that the Argonauts could run their entire offense through Fernandes win their second straight match. In the first set, Fernandes – who had 62 attempts in the victory against Washburn – collected nine kills on just 16 swings in the first game, helping lead the Argonauts to a 30-28 victory.
Her three kills in an 8-2 run deep in the set propelled the squad to a 27-23 lead.
Central made Fernandes work a lot harder in the second game. After needing just 16 attacks for her nine kills in game 1, the Mules blocked more consistently, forcing the outside hitter to register 30 attacks in the second game alone.
After tying the match at 25 all, the Mules went on a 5-1 run – helped by an attack error from Fernandes – and took the set 30-26.
“We weren’t able to sustain it late in game two,” Wolter said. “Central is a very tough team to play against and we needed to put them away.”
The Mules rolled in game three, 30-14. Fernandes started to wear down with such a heavy workload. She accumulated just 10 attacks in the third game, and had twice as many errors (6) as kills (3).
Still, the Argonauts wouldn’t go quietly, using their trademark cheers as fuel.
“After the third set, some of the players were sitting on the bench,” Fernandes said. ”A few of us said, ‘Get up, get up.’ We started singing, ‘Let’s go, Argos, let’s go.’ We just all pulled together and played our hearts out 24/7.”
The Jennies took an 8-3 lead, but after a timeout, WFU turned the set around and won 30-26.
“[West Florida] never quit playing,” Martin said. “They just battled, battled and battled. They were determined out there.”
The Argonauts spread around the offense, using Danielle Spitzer and Carly Moyers more often.
In the fifth set, though, Ohrman led the Mules attack with three kills, but the Argonauts couldn’t focus on just one player.
“We had trouble with the slide the entire day,” Wolter said. “It wasn’t anything that we did defensively, it was more what they did offensively. Jillian is a great player, but we couldn’t just minimize her like we could Washburn. They don’t have one player that you can focus on.”
And that depth and team defense allowed the Jennies to take an early 8-5 lead in game five. The Argonauts battled back, feeding off the energy of constant cheering, handslaps and fist pumps.
“In a big match, it’s all about adrenaline,” Wolter said. “It’s not about X’s and O’s.”
West Florida tied it at 11, setting the stage for the incredible finish.
posted by Conor Nicholl at Friday, November 10, 2006
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