Issue date: 9/3/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brian Miller Junior Stephanie Peterson jumps to hit the ball during practice. UW-Eau Claire will host the Labor Day Classic Friday and Saturday at McPhee.

In November 2008 the UW-Eau Claire volleyball team found itself tied at 24 in a must-win game 4 of the NCAA championship tournament against St. Benedict (Minn.). Since games must be won by two or more points, the game didn't come to an end until St. Benedict outlasted the Blugolds, 28-26. The game put an end to the 2008 volleyball season and to the careers of the team's seniors.

"We did lose a lot of seniors, but we have a lot (of) returning (players). So (we have) a lot of girls coming back who played both on the court and on our practice team," head coach Kim Wudi said. "They're certainly prepared to step in and fill some of those roles we lost from last year."

The four seniors from that 2008 team included two of the team's biggest contributors - setter Emily Haese, who facilitated the offense, and reigning WIAC player of the year and starting outside hitter Abby Freiborg. Despite losing so many seniors from the previous season, the 2009 roster still has plenty of experience with seven juniors and three seniors on the team.

"I think our biggest concern is making sure we don't take a step back," Wudi said. "We have high standards for our program, so I think we want to be starting strong, right off the bat, this week and putting ourselves on the map, as far as a team to compete with."

In 2008, the team shared a conference title with UW-Oshkosh, and the two teams are predicted to again fight it out for the top spot in the conference. In a pre-season poll conducted by the league's sports information directors, UW-Oshkosh is the favorite to win the conference. The poll gave the Titans, who are ranked fourth nationally, eight first-place votes. The Blugolds received the remaining first-place vote and are ranked No. 20 nationally.

"I don't put a lot of weight in those early season polls," Wudi said. "It's nice to be up there and to be ranked in the top of the conference or in the national polls as well, but there's only one poll that matters, and that's the last one. The rankings at the end of the season are a lot more important than the ones at the beginning."

The team returned to action on Sept. 1, when it traveled to Stevens Point to play a pair of non-conference games against UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. The Blugolds won all three games against Stevens Point - 25-22, 25-16 and 25-21. The Blugolds finished the match with a .280 hitting percentage - .211 points higher than Stevens Point's .069 hitting percentage.

Against Whitewater, the Blugolds took the first two games, 25-22 and 26-25 respectively, before falling 25-20 in the third game. Eau Claire went on to win fourth game, and the match, 25-19.

Junior Rachel Ver Voort led the team in kills both matches, with a total of 25-14 against Stevens Point and 11 against Whitewater. Her 11 digs in the first match of the day tied her with senior Lindsey Smith for the team lead. Junior Amanda Lessner recorded 50 assists on that day - 24 against Stevens Point and 26 against Whitewater - while Smith recorded a team high 20 digs against Whitewater.

"We played very well, considering they were our first matches," Ver Voort said. "We have a very strong team, and a very deep team. It's not just the six people on the court that can contribute; every player on the team has something they can contribute to our success."

The Blugolds will return to Eau Claire Friday and Saturday to host the UWEC Labor Day Classic - one of two home tournaments this season.

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