Pirates Come up Short in Elite 8 Volleyball Tourney

The Armstrong Atlantic State volleyball squad saw its postseason run come to an end on Thursday as the Pirates dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 3-ranked Grand Valley State in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at the Gingelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia St. Paul.

The Pirates (28-7) never got on track offensively, hitting just .058 for the match, with 20 hitting errors - even though AASU outblocked the Lakers (33-3), 7-4. Grand Valley State, who has won 30 of its last 31 matches, hit just .193 in the match.

Armstrong Atlantic State opened up game one with a few unforced errors, falling behind quickly, 5-1. Michele Remlinger gave the Pirates its first kill of the match at 6-4, then a block by Rindy Vidovich and Casie Richards gave AASU its first lead of the Elite Eight at 9-8. Head coach Will Condon took a timeout, trailing 15-13, and the Lakers closed out the game on a 10-6 run, taking the first game, 25-19. The Pirates, the top-hitting team in the league, hit an uncharacteristic .000 in the game with eight hitting errors - none on GVSU blocks. GVSU hit .306 in the game.

Grand Valley State again jumped out to a 5-1 lead in game two, forcing coach Condon to call time out. A block by Gwen Clarke and Michele Remlinger tied the game at 13-13, but GVSU scored the next two to lead 15-13, leading to coach Condon's second time out of the game. A block and kill by Bevolo put the Pirates up, 18-16, forcing a GVSU time out. AASU led, 19-16, but GVSU scored four straight points to take back the lead, 20-19. Two straight attack errors by the Lakers gave the Pirates a 23-22 lead, forcing a GVSU time out. A service error by Budd and two straight attack errors gave game two to the Lakers, 25-23. AASU actually out-hit the Lakers in game two, but by a slim margin, .125 to .075.

The Lakers opened up a 10-6 lead in game three. The Pirates tightened the game up, closing to within 15-13, with a GVSU time out. A marathon point at 18-16 GVSU went the Lakers way, and GVSU ended up closing out the match with a 25-17 win in game three, ending AASU's season.

Danielle Alexander led all players for Grand Valley State with 12 kills and a .522 hitting percentage. Jamie Ashmore tallied 31 assists and Meredith Young notched 13 digs.

AASU was led by senior Rindy Vidovich, who notched eight kills. AVCA Honorable Mention All-America sophomore Hannah Segebart tallied 23 assists and junior Marina Marinova notched 11 digs.

Head coach Will Condon said, after the match, "They [Grand Valley State] served us pretty tough, but honestly I think most of our problems were on our side of the net. They're a great team and they took advantage of our mistakes, but I think we're the ones who hurt us the most."

The Pirates return 11 players from this season's squad for 2009, losing just one senior, Rindy Vidovich.

"I think it's a tremendous experience from the first round of the NCAA to this one," Condon said. "I hope what happened today for the other 11 will make them very hungry in the offseasn and come back and show a little different team."

"I'm not disappointed in my team," Condon said. "I'm disappointed for them. I'm saying the same thing tha they think. Playing GVSU, I feel like our conference was underrated. I think the league did an excellent job preparing us for this experience. I wish we could have done a little bit better for them too."

Senior Rindy Vidovich: "I think in the beginning it [the slow play] was nerves. Coach told us in the huddle we needed to be more aggressive. I think we went on our runs when we were more aggressive."

Sophomore Hannah Segebart: "I think nerves came into it, but we're a young team, and next year we'll know going into it [the NCAAs]."

Grand Valley State advances to the NCAA Semifinals to take on the winner of Thursday night's New Haven/Concordia St. Paul match.