by Matt Paulson
Sports Editor
The University of La Verne women’s volleyball team suffered its second loss in more than 30 matches when it traveled to Whittier College for the Whittier Invitational, held Sept. 6-7.
Saturday evening, the top-ranked Leopards faced the No. 9 ranked team in the nation, Cal State Hayward. ULV had beaten Hayward in the West Regional Championship on its quest to the National Title during the previous season.
Apparently, Hayward had not forgotten this match. They stormed out, besting the Leopards in a perfect 3-0 victory on their way to becoming the champions of the Whittier College Invitational.
“I hate losing more than anything in the world,” head coach Don Flora said.
Flora attributed the loss to the fact that Cal State Hayward had an extra eight days of training, which, at this time of the year, makes a “huge difference,” and made Hayward “the better team right now.”
“The offense was a lot bigger than last year. They had a lot of junior and senior transfers, which is typical Hayward,” Flora said.
The match did hold some ULV highlights as sophomore and former West Region Freshman of the Year Amy Kratochvil accumulated 11 kills for a hitting percentage of .333.
Senior Kelsey Kennedy, occupying the new libero position, held strong with a team-high 15 digs.
Before the Saturday night loss, though, the Leopards snatched three wins during earlier tournament play. The first was against UC Santa Cruz.
The Leopards defeated the Banana Slugs in three games with scores of 30-17, 32-30 and 30-18.
Flora called the victory a “good regional win. It’s always nice to be 1-0.”
Sophomore Adele Jones, who came out of nowhere in the middle of the season last year to play a key role during the second half of the championship march, was a model of consistency as she tallied 10 kills and had a team-high four blocks with a hitting percentage of .600.
Next up was Chapman.
The Panthers and ULV are “starting a rivalry,” Flora said.The Leopards showed their supremacy in this rival as they won in four games with scores of 30-26, 30-23, 24-30 and 30-24. The Leopards exercised their depth as Flora tried different line-ups in the match, while still coming out on top.
ULV then faced a key Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe in Claremont. The Leopards beat the Athenas in three games, which was “a good win because they’re a lot better than last year,” Flora said.
In the match, freshman Courtney Rollins out of Redondo Beach, was the “surprise of the weekend,” Flora said, with nine digs and 12 kills for a hitting percentage of .391.
Overall, the Leopards ended up with a 3-1 record during the tournament.
Flora, in retrospect, called the Invitational a “nice early season test.”
The tournament started what might be another road to the national title for the No. 1 ranked Leopards.
In response to the expectations inevitably present for the defending titleholders, Flora said, “The approach doesn’t change. You’ve got to put together your systems and train as hard or harder than last year. We just want to train hard and get better.”
Flora admitted though, that there is “some pressure” to be the one everyone is chasing.
On their quest this year, the Leopards will put a large amount of stock in Kratochvil, former second team All-American senior middle Stacey Lupu, junior outside hitter Amy Smith, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the semifinal of last year’s National Tournament and Jones.
The key teams standing in the way of this repeat quest are Cal State Hayward and Whitworth in the regional spectrum and Claremont, Redlands and California Lutheran in SCIAC, Flora said.
This weekend, the women’s volleyball team flies to Elmhurst, Ill. for the Elmhurst Invitational. ULV will face last year’s runner-up, Wisconsin Whitewater in the tournament, among other Division III Midwest competition.
