Nov. 11, 2006
Fargo, North Dakota - Utah Valley State's season ended with a loss Saturday night at the Division-I Independent Championships as IPFW topped the Wolverines in four games (30-24, 27-30, 30-19, 30-26) to capture the championship.
Despite the loss, Utah Valley still finishes the 2006 season with a solid 17-11 record, something head coach Sam Atoa said the team can be proud of.
"There's not doubt I'm proud of the girls and what we've been able to accomplish. We can't define the season based on this loss. The season must be defined by the situations we went through and the relationships we've gained. We had a successful year and we are going to continue to succeed," said Atoa.
Entering the tournament as the #2 seed, the Wolverines swept their first two matches before running into a hot Mastodon squad. The loss upended UV's attempt to win consecutive Independent championships after a 2005 win in Greeley, Colorado.
Lacee Koelliker, Camie Manwill and Jessica Endres were named to the All-Tournament Team and all three had double doubles in the championship match. Koelliker finished with 49 assists and 17 digs, ending her successful career with 4,057 career assists. Manwill had a game-high 15 kills to go along with 18 digs while Endres finished with 13 kills and 13 digs.
IPFW had four players reach double figures in kills, led by Rebecca Roehm's 13. Peachy Jankowski had a game-high 28 digs for IPFW while Claire Jackson had three block solos and combined on seven block assists, helping the Mastodons to 17 team blocks.
Utah Valley was held to just a .120 hitting percentage for the match, its lowest total since October 10th at Utah.
"You have to give IPFW credit," said Atoa. "They played very well and made adjustments we struggled with. We didn't execute the way we needed to."
In game one, the Wolverines had a 23-20 lead but the Mastodons scored five straight points to take a 25-23 lead. They continued to roll, stretching the run to 10-1, winning game one by six.
Utah Valley came back in game two and held a slight lead nearly the entire game and came back to even the match at one with a three-point win.
In crucial game three, IPFW held an 18-16 lead before a big 6-0 spurt put them in control and up by eight at 24-16, catapulting the Mastodons to a 2-1 lead.
Game four once again was close, with each team taking brief leads mid-way through. UV trailed 27-24 before Endres and Manwill had kills to cut it to one, but following a Cynara Martins kill to push the score to 28-26, IPFW defense took over with consecutive block assists by Jackson and Jessica Miller to clinch the title.
Three of the teams in the tournament, IPFW, South Dakota State and North Dakota State will no longer be Independents in 2007 as all three will join the Mid-Continent Conference.
The 17-11 record for Utah Valley State is the second best record in school history after an 18-11 record in 2005.
All-Tournament Team
Jessica Endres ~ Utah Valley State
Lacee Koelliker ~ Utah Valley State
Camie Manwill ~ Utah Valley State
Kristina Martin ~ South Dakota State
Cynara Martins ~ IPFW
Sheila Parrish ~ North Dakota State
Rebekah Roehm ~ IPFW (Most Valuable Player)
Lindsay Rogers ~ North Dakota State
