2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball earns victory over WMU in 5 games
Drew Bollea
Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Sports
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The Broncos ended the 'Hawks' season last year in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament and Miami was ready to avenge the loss.
"You just don't forget about the team that ended your season," said sophomore Andrea Atteberry.
Despite some small miscues early on, the RedHawks got their revenge against the Broncos, winning a five-game set, 3-2. With the win, Miami moved to 4-7 overall and 1-1 in the MAC. The RedHawks currently sit fifth in the MAC East, while Western Michigan is third in the MAC West.
"We needed to realize our potential as a great team, and this was the game to do it," Miami Head Coach Carolyn Condit said.
A back and fourth, ping-pong-like first game set the tone for the rest of the match Saturday night. The 'Hawks had multiple unforced errors late in the game, which ultimately led to the Broncos winning game one, 31-29.
"We have to be able to execute throughout the whole game and not think it's over at point 20," Attebery said. "We have the talent in order to win matches; we just need to be able to mentally overcome any setbacks and finish strong."
Behind powerful hitting from junior Emily Schroeder and senior Jeanna Staun, the 'Hawks held off a late charge by the Broncos to win the second game 30-24. Miami wiped out the little mistakes from the first game, to build a seven-point lead the Broncos couldn't overcome.
"Everything seemed to click," Atteberry said. "We weren't making any thoughtless errors and we were executing really well on both offense and defense."
A late rally by the RedHawks in the third game was not enough to surpass the early eight-point lead that the Broncos had built. Once again the simple mental errors on both defense and offense prevented the RedHawks from overtaking the Broncos, as they fell, 30-26.
"We needed to keep our composure and not let one little error throw us off our game," Atteberry said.
Miami regained its composure and battled back and forth, as the 'Hawks barely hung on to win 30-28.
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