FORT WAYNE, Indiana – Alina Wallauer recorded team high kills in both the Wolverine's volleyball matches Saturday as UVSC battled in the second and final day of the Independent Championships. UVSC put Texas A&M-Corpus; Christi away in four games Saturday morning, but the Wolverines were bested 3-1 by University of Northern Colorado in their evening match.

Wallauer and Company dominated the Islanders of TAMUCC in the morning match 30-17, 30-21, 28-30, 30-20. Four Wolverine players showered the Islanders with double-digit kills, including Wallauer's match high 18. The other three Wolverines were Kassidy Brotherson (12), southpaw Jenny Weed (11), and Stephanie McFarland (11). Malia Roberts also chipped in 9 kills and setter Aulani Rogers added 6.

UVSC had 74 kills on the night and hit a steady .305 as a team. Meanwhile, the Islanders only hit at a .221 clip as a team. TAMUCC surprisingly managed to out-blocked UVSC 6 to 4 between the parade of kills.

"Alina [Wallauer] played very well today," said head coach Sam Atoa. "We actually had a couple girls really step up with Kassidy [Brotherson] and Stephanie [McFarland] both hitting .500, but Alina [Wallauer] definitely carried the team."

Wallauer added 3 service aces and 12 digs to her totals. Rogers was also impressive behind the back line as she notched 5 aces in the match.

Unfortunately, the balanced play of the Wolverines didn't carry over to the first two sets of the evening match against UNC, as the Bears beat UVSC convincingly 30-21, and 30-22.

Just when UNC thought they were going to add to their school record 25 sweeps this year the Wolverines found a rhythm and took game three, 30-26. The fourth set was a chess match as the two schools exchanged points readily. UVSC had four game point chances, but UNC (32-2), as they have done all year found a way to pull out the victory, 36-34 and deny the Wolverines the chance to take the match to a fifth and deciding game.

Wallauer continued to be solid all around as she had 16 kills, 5 service aces, and 18 digs in the match. Brotherson also had 16 kills and Roberts added 14. Rogers distributed the ball well finishing with 52 assists.

The Bears were led by Terin Ledall's 24 kills. Amanda Wiggins notched 15 kills of her own and Ledall's sister Maggie had 12 kills and hit .429. With the win UNC won the tournament as they won all four matches they played. UVSC took third going 2-2 in the tournament.

After the match Brotherson was named to the All-Tournament team.

Atoa was pleased with the way his team finished up the tournament.

"I felt like we put ourselves in a position to win every match in this tournament, and I was please with that," said Atoa. "In the end we just came up short."

Next year Atoa will get the chance to match up against these same schools on the Wolverine's home court. Because of some lobbying by Atoa tournament officials have agreed to allow UVSC to host the Independent Volleyball Championships in Orem, Utah in 2004.

All Tournament team
Melanie Travis-TAMUCC
Kassidy Brotherson-Utah Valley State
Carol Marcengo-UT-Pan American
Fabiana Souza-IPFW
Nicole Ray-IPFW
Maggie Ledall-Northern Colorado


Tournament MVP
Linnea Kiilsgaard-Northern Colorado

Team Finish
Northern Colorado 4-0
IPFW 3-1
Utah Valley State 2-2
University of Texas-Pan American 1-3
Texas A&M; Corpus Christi 0-4