Thursday: #4 North Alabama vs. #5 Pittsburg State
*Joe Barker*
Sometimes history repeats itself.
In early Sept. the No. 13 North Alabama University Lions and the Pittsburg State University Gorillas hooked up at the Washburn Lady Blues Classic. The Lions came out on top in the match 3-1.
Fast forward two months and up the stakes a lot and you have Thursday night’s contest between the two squads. Just like in September, UNA won a close first set en route to a 3-1 victory.
“I think we played point-for-point,” UNA head coach head coach Stephanie Radecki said. “… Every game was pretty close.”
The Lions extended its winning streak to 24 games and earned them a spot in the second round of the South Central Regional Championship against the winner of tonight’s Truman State University/ Albany State University tilt.
The first set was a tight just like in September between the No. 4 seeded Lions and the No. 5 Gorillas.
Points went back and forth in the opening frame with such frequencies that overtime was needed. The lead switched hands on three times and the set was tied up on 10 different occasions. In the end, North Alabama came out on top 31-29 to take a 1-0 lead.
But it would not be a clean sweep for UNA.
The Gorillas took game two, surviving a near-comeback from the Lions. Up 26-20, Pitt State had trouble closing out the Lions.
UNA chipped away and made it 29-27 but that was as close as they got. Pitt. State junior outside hitter Laura Toman recorded a kill on the final points, evening the match at one apiece.
Then the wheels started to fall off for the Gorillas.
The Lions regained the match lead in the third set, winning in convincing fashion 30-19. The set started in similar fashion as the first two, but UNA went on a 9-3 run in the middle of the set to extend turn its 14-11 lead into a 23-14 advantage.
Pitt State tried to mount a comeback late, but that was squelched by a 5-1 Lion run to close out the set and put them up 2-1 in the contest.
In the fourth set the Lions made sure the results tonight mirrored the September match. Never trailing in the set, the UNA won the set 30-22 punctuated by a thunderous kill from junior middle blocker/outside hitter Danielle Palasak.
Pitt State head coach Ibraheem Suberu gave credit to UNA after the match but said his team beat itself after the second set win.
“We shut down,” Suberu said. “Our ball control got sidetracked and we limited our offensive options and that plays right into UNA’s hands.”
Radecki said that the key to her teams win was the defensive effort in the third and fourth set.
“Our defense was the biggest thing,” Radecki said. “We just started to fight for points and not let balls hit the floor.”
UNA was led offensively by junior outside Nilcia Oliveira’s 23 kills. The native of Brazil only had four errors in the contest for a .317 hitting percentage.
For Pitt State, the key player was Sammie Williams. The sophomore outside hitter had 15 kills for a .255 hitting percentage. She was on fire in the second set, hitting .400.
“I wouldn’t say that I did anything differently,” Williams said. “My setter put the ball in windows like she knew how, our passers passed consistently and UNA obviously didn’t play as good as defense as they had to.”
After going wild in the second set, UNA stepped up the pressure on the 6-foot-1-inch Williams.
“I think we keyed on her the entire match because she is a great player,” Radecki said. “Our team does a great job of figuring out what players are doing and how to shut them down.”
Suberu said he if the team were to meet up again he would like a little extra help – a little supernatural help.
“If I had to do it over again I would like a magic wand - a magic wand to improve our pass and to improve our offense,” Suberu said.
Sometimes history repeats itself.
In early Sept. the No. 13 North Alabama University Lions and the Pittsburg State University Gorillas hooked up at the Washburn Lady Blues Classic. The Lions came out on top in the match 3-1.
Fast forward two months and up the stakes a lot and you have Thursday night’s contest between the two squads. Just like in September, UNA won a close first set en route to a 3-1 victory.
“I think we played point-for-point,” UNA head coach head coach Stephanie Radecki said. “… Every game was pretty close.”
The Lions extended its winning streak to 24 games and earned them a spot in the second round of the South Central Regional Championship against the winner of tonight’s Truman State University/ Albany State University tilt.
The first set was a tight just like in September between the No. 4 seeded Lions and the No. 5 Gorillas.
Points went back and forth in the opening frame with such frequencies that overtime was needed. The lead switched hands on three times and the set was tied up on 10 different occasions. In the end, North Alabama came out on top 31-29 to take a 1-0 lead.
But it would not be a clean sweep for UNA.
The Gorillas took game two, surviving a near-comeback from the Lions. Up 26-20, Pitt State had trouble closing out the Lions.
UNA chipped away and made it 29-27 but that was as close as they got. Pitt. State junior outside hitter Laura Toman recorded a kill on the final points, evening the match at one apiece.
Then the wheels started to fall off for the Gorillas.
The Lions regained the match lead in the third set, winning in convincing fashion 30-19. The set started in similar fashion as the first two, but UNA went on a 9-3 run in the middle of the set to extend turn its 14-11 lead into a 23-14 advantage.
Pitt State tried to mount a comeback late, but that was squelched by a 5-1 Lion run to close out the set and put them up 2-1 in the contest.
In the fourth set the Lions made sure the results tonight mirrored the September match. Never trailing in the set, the UNA won the set 30-22 punctuated by a thunderous kill from junior middle blocker/outside hitter Danielle Palasak.
Pitt State head coach Ibraheem Suberu gave credit to UNA after the match but said his team beat itself after the second set win.
“We shut down,” Suberu said. “Our ball control got sidetracked and we limited our offensive options and that plays right into UNA’s hands.”
Radecki said that the key to her teams win was the defensive effort in the third and fourth set.
“Our defense was the biggest thing,” Radecki said. “We just started to fight for points and not let balls hit the floor.”
UNA was led offensively by junior outside Nilcia Oliveira’s 23 kills. The native of Brazil only had four errors in the contest for a .317 hitting percentage.
For Pitt State, the key player was Sammie Williams. The sophomore outside hitter had 15 kills for a .255 hitting percentage. She was on fire in the second set, hitting .400.
“I wouldn’t say that I did anything differently,” Williams said. “My setter put the ball in windows like she knew how, our passers passed consistently and UNA obviously didn’t play as good as defense as they had to.”
After going wild in the second set, UNA stepped up the pressure on the 6-foot-1-inch Williams.
“I think we keyed on her the entire match because she is a great player,” Radecki said. “Our team does a great job of figuring out what players are doing and how to shut them down.”
Suberu said he if the team were to meet up again he would like a little extra help – a little supernatural help.
“If I had to do it over again I would like a magic wand - a magic wand to improve our pass and to improve our offense,” Suberu said.
posted by Conor Nicholl at Thursday, November 09, 2006
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