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December 1, 2002

2002 VOLLEYBALL REVIEW

2002 VOLLEYBALL REVIEW

Viking finish second in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin tournament; Season ends with 23-17 overall record & ninth straight 20 victory season; Lori Papineau makes first team all-conference

A late season flourish allowed the Augustana Vikings volleyball team to continue its streak of 20 victory campaigns. First year head coach Betsy Knott guided her team to a fine 23-17 overall record, the ninth straight year that the Vikings have won at least 20 matches. The current streak started in 1994 with a 22-14 season.

The Blue & Gold ended the season at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin tournament with a second place finish. After beating North Park and Wheaton in the first two rounds of pool play, the Vikings were defeated by Elmhurst in the final round. The 2-1 pool play record gave Augustana the second place seed out of pool A heading into the semi-finals.

In the first round of the semi-finals, the Vikings recorded a 3-2 victory over host Carthage that allowed them to advance to the championship match for the second year in a row and the fourth time in school history. The win over the Lady Reds was an emotional one because Augustana trailed 14-10 in the fifth and final game before ripping off six unanswered points to nail down the victory.

After the heart pounding win over Carthage to get to the title game, Knott's crew had little left in the championship and fell to Elmhurst 3-0. Due to the point system that the CCIW uses in volleyball, the Vikings ended up in fourth place overall despite playing for the tournament title for the second straight year. Augustana scored three points during the regular season with a 3-4 CCIW record and then added three more during the tournament with the three victories.

The Vikings started the season with victories in seven of its first nine matches but then hit a stretch between the 14^th and 28^th of September that saw them lose eight straight matches. A 3-0 homecourt victory over Wheaton on October 1 snapped that string and from that point until the end of the season Augustana won 16 of 23 matches. In the final 13 matches the Vikings were 9-4 and all four of those losses came at the hands of teams that would eventually be in the NCAA tournament - one to Benedictine and three to Elmhurst.

In her first season after taking over for Liesl Fowler, the winningest coach in the history of Augustana volleyball with a record of 222-138 in 10 seasons from 1992-01, Betsy Knott relied heavily on her four seniors: Lori Papineua (McHenry HS, McHenry, IL), Kat Kummer (Cedar Rapids Washington HS, Cedar Rapids, IA), Mandy Murray (Dubuque Wahlert HS, Dubuque, IA) and Cory Tillman (Kirkwood HS, Des Peres, MO). Those four provided quality leadership and finished their careers at Augustana with a cumulative record of 97-48 (.669). They were 18-11 in CCIW play, finished second in the league once and shared the conference title in 2001 with Elmhurst. They also had a part in the lone NCAA Division III volleyball appearance in school history in 2001 when the Vikings set a school record with a 29-5 mark.

As a group they will leave Augustana with quite a legacy and they managed to make some marks individually as well. Papineau established a new school record this year when she averaged 3.62 kills per game, breaking the old mark of 3.58 set by Ashley Borah in 1996. Papineau also broke a nine year old school record on October 8 when she recorded 31 kills in a single match against Illinois Wesleyan, taking down the existing mark of 30 set by Kristin Marsala against Wheaton on October 21, 1991.

Murray tied a new school record for service aces in a single match when she had nine against St. Mary's on September 14. She matches the record held by Shawna Nelsen against Coe on September 21, 1991. A year ago Murray set the school record for singles season aces per game when she averaged 0.63. She is also the career record holder for service aces with 184.

Besides the school record, Augustana's top 10 lists got quite a rewrite this year. After Papineau's school record for kills in a single season, Tillman moved into fourth place with 9.87 assists per game and Murray is also fourth in service aces per game with 0.48 in addition to her school record of a year ago. Papineau's 1.33 blocks per game made her 10^th and Murray now has the third best single season digs per game average with 4.09.

Papineau ends her fine career with 1,134 kills which is fourth on the all-time list and junior Callyn Dittmar (United Township HS, East Moline, IL) has moved into ninth place with 916 kills. Tillman, who had not played since her freshman year, jumped all the way to fourth place on the career assists list with 1,650. While Murray holds the school record for career service aces with 184, Papineau is third with 130 and Dittmar is seventh with 199. Papineau leaves with 464 career blocks, the third best total in school history. In career digs Murray is third (1,296), Dittmar sits fifth (1,063) and Papineau exits in eighth (910). Twice this year Tillman cracked the single match top 10 list for assists as she had 67 against Carthage on November 9^th for the third best total and put up 60 for seventh best in a match against Elmhurst on October 22.

Papineau was selected to the all-tournament team in the CCIW and was also named first team all-conference. During the year she made the all-tournament team at the Augustana Invitational, the Wartburg Invitational, the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational and the Benedictine Invitational.

2002 AUGUSTANA VOLLEYBALL SUPERLATIVES

Ninth straight season with at least 20 victories (23-17 overall record)

Second straight year of playing in championship of CCIW tournament

Winners of Augustana Invitational

School record - Single season kills per game (3.62 - Lori Papineau)

School record - Career service aces (184 - Mandy Murray)

School record - Kills in a single match (31 - Lori Papineau vs. Illinois Wesleyan on 10/08/02)

School record - Service aces in a single match (9 - Mandy Murray vs. St. Mary's on 09/14/02)

School record (tie) - Most victories in season by first year coach - (23 - Betsy Knott)

Augustana Invitational all-tournament team - Lori Papineau & Cory Tillman

Wartburg Invitational all-tournament team - Lori Papineau

UW-Oshkosh Invitational all-tournament team - Lori Papineau

Benedictine Tournament all-tournament team - Lori Papineau & Callyn Dittmar

CCIW Player of the Week - Lori Papineau on September 9 and October 13

CCIW Tournament all-tournament team - Lori Papineau

CCIW All-Conference - Lori Papineau (first team)

2002 AUGUSTANA TEAM AWARDS

Most Valuable Player: Lori Papineau

Most Valuable Offensive Player: Lori Papineau

Most Valuable Defensive Player: Mandy Murray

Best Passer: Katie Vegter

Best Defender: Mandy Murray

Best Attacker: Kat Kummer

Best Blocker: Lori Papineau

Best Server: Lori Papineau & Mandy Murray

Best Setter: Cory Tillman

“Bongo” Award for Hustle and Spirit: Amanda Gehrt

Coach’s Award: Emily Roling

Most Improved Player: Cory Tillman

Most Valuable Freshman: Jill Callaghan

Most Improved Junior Varsity Player: Kristen North & Becky Kobus

“Bongo” Award at Junior Varsity Level for Hustle and Spirit: Jeanna Dalton

2002 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN VOLLEYBALL FINAL RESULTS

NOTE: The CCIW determines its championship on the basis of one point for each regular season win and one point for each CCIW tournament victory. In the case of a tie for the CCIW title, the tam that places higher in the tournament is placed higher in the final standings.

CCIW TOURNAMENT

Pool A: #1 - Elmhurst; #4 - Augustana; #5 - Wheaton; #8 - North Park

Pool B: #2 - Carthage; #3 - Millikin; #6 - Illinois Wesleyan; #7 - North Central

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 (on-campus sites)

Elmhurst beat Wheaton 30-24; 30-25; 30-28 in Elmhurst, Illinois

Augustana beat North Park 30-20; 30-23; 30-24 in Rock Island, Illinois

Carthage beat Illinois Wesleyan 30-27; 30-25; 22-30; 23-30; 15-11 in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Millikin beat North Central 30-26; 30-15; 30-26 in Decatur, Illinois

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 (Carthage PE Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin)

Elmhurst beat North Park 30-24; 30-15; 30-20

Augustana beat Wheaton 30-25; 31-29; 20-30; 30-28

Carthage beat North Central 30-14; 30-20; 30-22

Illinois Wesleyan beat Millikin 30-27; 30-22; 30-32; 41-39

Elmhurst beat Augustana 30-19; 30-21; 28-30; 27-30; 15-10

Wheaton beat North Park 31-29; 28-30; 30-22; 30-25

Illinois Wesleyan beat North Central 30-23; 30-23; 30-16

Carthage beat Millikin 30-26; 25-30; 30-24; 30-21

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 (Carthage PE Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin)

Semifinal - Augustana beat Carthage 27-30; 30-27; 30-23; 28-30; 16-14

Semifinal - Elmhurst beat Illinois Wesleyan 25-30; 30-24; 32-30; 30-14

Seventh Place - North Central beat North Park 30-24; 30-24; 31-29

Fifth Place - Millikin beat Wheaton 28-30; 24-30; 30-28; 30-26; 15-7

Third Place - Carthage beat Illinois Wesleyan 30-28; 30-21; 30-23

Championship - Elmhurst beat Augustana 30-22; 30-16; 30-24

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Lori Papineau, Augustana

Erin Calteux, Carthage

Shelley Schriner, Carthage

Amanda Fark, Elmhurst

Regina Morrone, Elmhurst

Tiffany Hamblin, Illinois Wesleyan

CCIW ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

FIRST TEAM

Amanda Fark - Elmhurst

Tiffany Hamblin - Illinois Wesleyan

Lori Papineau - Augustana

Shelley Schriner - Carthage

Katie Bequette - Elmhurst

Loran Lilly - Carthage

SECOND TEAM

Stacey Stegeman - Millikin

Michelle Stilling - North Central

Nicole Carlson - Elmhurst

Beth Crowley - Illinois Wesleyan

Meredith Osterhoff - Wheaton

Emily Nihill - Wheaton

HONORABLE MENTION

Amanda Klufetos - North Park

Cara Honselman - Millikin

JoDee Whitlock - Millikin

Regina Morrone - Elmhurst

Erin Calteux - Carthage

Ann Taulbee - Wheaton

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Amanda Fark, Elmhurst

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Nicole Carlson, Elmhurst

COACH OF THE YEAR - Leanne Ulmer, Carthage