Eagles Prepare for NCAA Regional Tournament

The Women’s Volleyball Atlantic Region Championships are taking place at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia this Thursday.  After falling to Gannon in a 5 set thriller, as a team we are vigorously preparing to knock down the # 4 seeded Clarion Golden Eagles in the first round.   Lock Haven is ranked #5 in the Atlantic region and setting their sights on a bid to the NCAA DII National Championships December 6-8, 2012 in Pensacola, FL.   Clarion is 23-11 overall.  Lock Haven came up short against Clarion on October 5, 2012 in another 5-set match losing only by 3 points in the fifth set.  Needless to say, studying film and scouting reports will be a large part of our strategy to battle Clarion.   We will travel Wednesday in preparation for the match. We will be finalizing our game plan and practicing one last time in Wheeling before the Eagle against Eagle match on Thursday.

-Jess

Haven Falls to Gannon in PSAC Finals

This past weekend we made it to the championship game against Gannon in the PSAC finals. We went into the game with the utmost confidence and ambition. We had our game plan under wraps and we knew exactly what we needed to do. We executed strongly in the first two sets against them, coming back in the first game from a 7 point deficits. Everything seemed to be going our way for these first two games and then the tables turned. We started to panic it felt like and we again were down by 7 points. It felt like we were not in control of the game anymore, even though we were up 2 games to 1. We lost all of our momentum and the game started to turn the other way. We continued to fight throughout the next 3 games but we fell in all of them. The feeling after that game was heart breaking, watching the title slip right through our fingers. But we have to look ahead to regionals. We know exactly what we have to do to beat Gannon when we face them again in the regional tournament. Although we fell short of one of our goals we still have the biggest one yet to accomplish! 

-Toryn

LHU Beats CalU in Five Set Thriller

Friday evening we traveled to Erie, PA to play the semi-final match of the PSAC championship against CalU.  We knew going into this we would have a good battle to face and conquer, especially after beating them earlier in the season. We were prepared for Cal getting revenge on us.  We had the opportunity to practice earlier that morning at Gannon, and it was a very intense and productive practice which got us ready for our game later that evening.  We played very well in the five-set match and ended up finishing with a 3-2 win over Cal.  We all played well and everyone played together.  It is great to see our team thrive in games like this, being forced to play our game and to put pressure on the other team and not just coast through games.  Our energy was very high during all five games and we were pushed beyond what anyone expected. It was great getting to be a part of a game like this after always having a rivalry with them and finally coming out on top.  After this game we knew we had to get ready for the finals against Gannon University. 

-Kendra

Eagles Prepare for PSAC Final Against Gannon

We had a big match against Cal last night and we have another big match tonight against Gannon. Tonight we will take on the No. 1 ranked team in the PSAC West. They are a solid team, so it’s definitely going to be a good match. They’ll have the home team advantage since we’re playing at their own Hammermill Hall, but we’ve got a good reason to fight. Not only is the game for the conference championship, but Gannon also beat us on our home court during crossovers earlier this year. The team is making sure to rest up today and we are preparing for our match tonight. 

-Cody

LHU Prepares for Semi-Final Match Against Cal

It's time for second round of playoffs; this is what we have been working for all season. It has come down to playing CalU, which is a big team for us. This season we had a big win against them, and we are ready to do it again. As we travel a long four hours to Gannon which is where the PSAC tournament is being placed, we have prepared long and hard throughout our whole season for this tournament. This has been a goal since last spring season to come and take back what CalU came to our gym and stole from us. It’s time to do work, play hard, and defeat Cal once again, and show them who really deserves the PSAC trophy. As a team we will leave everything out on the court and not looking back.

-Laura

Lock Haven Powers Past Millersville

   Playing Millersville marked the beginning of the post season. We feel like the regular season has been a long practice preparing us for the post season. We set out with goals for the post season from the first team meeting at preseason and now, by sweeping Millersville in the first round of playoffs, we are headed in the right direction.

    Playing Millersville was bitter-sweet because it was the seniors’ last home game. They played with all of their heart in front of a supportive crowd filled with our family and friends celebrating their careers at Lock Haven. All of the underclassmen were proud of how well the seniors preformed. Xuan, Grace, Alexa and Monica all had amazing games with impressive stats; and for one senior, Erin Walsh, it was the game that moved her into first place in Lock Haven’s history for most digs.

    We are ecstatic to move on to the next round of playoffs held at Gannon in Erie, PA. We play California University of PA at 5p.m. on Friday. To say the least, we look forward to playing the Vulcan’s again in the post-season. 

-Beth

Gao Xuan

LHU Prepares for First Round of PSAC Tournament

Today we play Millersville at home to start off our PSAC tournament play. This will be the third time we have played them this season (we lost to them at Millersville and beat them at our place).  After beating Kutztown in three this past Saturday and defeating East Stroudsburg on Tuesday we will definitely have confidence entering this game. We are also still revengeful because Millersville beat us earlier in the season. Our goal is to come out playing hard the whole game. Playing at home is a big help for us because our fans are always very supportive and help keep the energy high during our matches. This is a big game! We wan to further our play in the PSAC tournament and prove to Millersville who is the better team. I believe that our team is prepared for this match and we just need to come into the gym tonight night ready to play hard and take down Millersville.

-Kaleigh

Lock Haven Picks Up 12th Straight Win

With our 12th consecutive win, our regular season play is finished and we move on to the conference tournament! Celebrating our seniors and all of their accomplishments over the years gave us the encouragement we needed to keep Kutztown under 20 in all three sets. The seniors picked up their 99th win of their career at Lock Haven. We just wanted to have fun and send the seniors off with a win on senior day. This season is dedicated to the countless hours of hard work we endured and pushing each other towards our common goals. You know what they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

   

To everyone in the PSAC,  we are coming for that conference Championship guns-a-blazin! I can't wait for the thrilling games that are about to take place! :)

-Bailey

LHU seniors: Monica Brown #2, Alexa Garrity #15, Grace Novacek #9, Erin Walsh #7 and Gao Xuan #12 

LHU Prepares for Kutztown

We have a big match against Kutztown on Saturday at 1pm. Not only is this it a big game, but it is the last game of the regular season. On Saturday we will honor our seniors for their last regular season home game.  As we go into this weekend we are focused on how we are going to attack this team.  We have been working hard on hitting and blocking to help us for this game. We always go into this game against Kutztown with fire under us as we look to “Kill the Bear”.

With this game we look to continue to work on everything to keep getting better and better each day. One thing that we are looking to improve on is to keep communicating with each other to help us succeed. We also look to play our hardest to help us get ready for playoff games next week. Not only do we want to get better each and every day but we want to help our seniors finish on a great season. As we prepare to take on the bears we also are getting the gym ready to celebrate our “FAB 5” seniors for their incredible success here at Lock Haven University.

-Alex

Lock Haven Volleyball Seniors

LHU Picks Up 11th Straight Win

Last night the Lock Haven volleyball team traveled down to East Stroudsburg University to take on the Warriors. Upon arrival we learned that we would not be playing in the fieldhouse rather the recreation center because the university was housing victims of hurricane Sandy. This was different for us because we are used to playing in front of a large crowd in a large fieldhouse. However we did not let this slow us down; we came out playing our game and took it to ESU 25-16 game 1. We did not slow down in the second game defeating ESU 25-19. The third game we relaxed a little bit when we should not have and ESU prevailed, winning 27-25. The fourth game we were able to put the match defeating ESU 25-16. This became our 11th straight victory and may end up helping us when the new regional rankings come out. We are excited for this weekend, as it is our senior day where we are celebrating 5 seniors. We are working hard this week to take another victory and finishing our season on a 12 game win streak. 

-Alexa

Haven Beats Ship and Millersville

This past weekend Lock Haven Volleyball clinched the number one seed in the PSAC Eastern Conference. On Friday we took on the #2 seed Shippensburg who was only one game behind Lock Haven. We kept them where they belong at #2 as we beat them in a four game match! Saturday morning we returned to Thomas Fieldhouse for another match against Millersville University. This game was equally important to us because we dropped a game to them earlier this season. Facing the scrappy defense of Millersville, Lock Haven stayed heavy on the offense and took out Millersville in a 4 game match!  Saturday was also an important day for Lock Haven Volleyball as we honored the recently retired Coach Tom Justice. Several LHU Volleyball alumni came out to the game to show their support for Coach Justice and his 21 years of dedication to the program. We thank Coach Justice for everything that he’s put into building such a successful program and his continued support as our #1 fan!  We hope to finish out our regular season strong with a win against East Stroudsburg tomorrow and another against Kutztown on Saturday!

***HAVEN NATION***

-Monica

Eagles Prepare for East Stroudsburg

This Tuesday, we travel to face ESU to play the Warriors for the second time this season.  This is our second to last game before tournament play.  Coming off this past weekend, after defeating Shippensburg and Millersville in two clean, high-paced matches, we are in a great place as a team.  Last week definitely gave us the momentum we needed to work extra hard this week in practice to prepare ourselves even more for post-season games.  Our goal is to finish out this week clenching our first place in the Eastern Division of the PSAC conference, and taking the confidence we gain from that success with us to the championship, which is held in the west this year.  The team sees our upcoming matches this week as crucial parts in reaching the goals we have set, and we are excited to begin to put some new things together on the court and continue to play as hard as we can!

-Grace

This weekend we will be facing Shippensburg and Millersville. With us leading the PSAC Eastern Conference, this weekend is extremely important. Shippensburg is a game behind us in the conference rankings and want nothing more but to beat us! But we will not let this happen. We have already defeated Ship on the road but need to take care of business once again!  Friday night will be our black out game against them, so we will be expecting a big, loud and enthusiastic crowd. Again, this game is huge so come out and support! Also, Saturday we will be facing Millersville, in which is another important game for us. The last time we saw Millersville it did not go as planned. We lost in 4 sets but learned a lot from this experience. Playing them this Saturday on our home court they will not get the satisfaction of defeating Lock Haven a second time around. Saturday at 1 p.m. will be a white out game! So come out and see us take care of business! HAVEN NATION!

-Erin

Erin Walsh (7) and Jess Brown