Watch out, UCSD women’s soccer team. Pretty soon you may not be the only UCSD women’s fall athletic team to wave a national championship trophy in the air. After traveling to Allendale, Mich., in late November, the UCSD women’s volleyball team capped off an incredible season by finishing third in the nation and one game short of the national championship.
“”It was great — I was really pleased with the team,”” said head coach Duncan McFarland. “”I felt they had really overachieved to accomplish that this year. I think the typical athlete at UCSD is overachieving, looking at their goals — look at the women’s soccer team. We definitely used [them] as an inspiration and a good role model.””
To reach the Final Four, the Tritons faced familiar foes Lock Haven and found them tough opponents, despite readily beating them in the beginning of the season.
“”I actually was more concerned in that match than any other all year long,”” McFarland said. “”I was confident we could beat that team and I was worried my players were, too — the biggest concern was looking past them. I just figured [Lock Haven] would be very fired up for us and not feeling as much pressure against them [as we were].
The Tritons came out tight, but managed to take the first set, 30-26.
After Lock Haven then took the next set, the Tritons rallied for two sets, squeaking by, 30-28 and 30-27, for the win. Senior Kathleen Hentz posted 10 kills and two blocks, freshman setter Teresa Ohta contributed 50 assists, and freshman outside hitter Stacey Dunsmore smacked 18 kills while leading the Tritons to the first-ever Division II Final Four.
With Lock Haven out of the way, UCSD took on Barry University the next day and lost in straight sets. Barry University, who became the eventual champions after trouncing South Dakota State, had four star Brazilian players who gave McFarland some consernation.
“”Kids in Brazil have tremendous competition down there, and I knew they would be a tough team to crack,”” he said. “”I could see how good the Brazilian players were and they were the definite dominant players on the team. I felt we had to play the match of our life to beat them.””
Dunsmore again led UCSD with 15 kills and senior Laura Santerre added 10 kills, but it simply was not enough because Barry, riding a 19-game winning streak, overpowered the Tritons.
“”They were just so solid we couldn’t find any weaknesses that we could exploit,”” McFarland said. “”All our strategies I think would have worked against any other team but them.””
Despite the loss, McFarland was ecstatic about the Tritons’ season, which they began ranked below the top 25.
McFarland was also not surprised about their playoff run.
“”I thought [going far in the postseason] was possible at the start because I realized how much talent we had on the team,”” he said. “”We did talk about the possibility of winning a national championship.””
From the beginning, the Tritons tried not to look too far ahead.
“”I think we just really built on our success,”” McFarland said. “”[In the regional championship game] we just took San Bernardino one game at a time and kept our goals small at first and then built on that. Every time we achieved our goal we gained confidence and believed we could go higher next time.””
However, despite UCSD’s stellar finish, officials only ranked the Tritons ninth in the last poll, and none of the players were named national All-Americans.
“”I think it’s a bit political,”” commented McFarland, “”because the people that do the ranking seem to be on the East Coast, since they always rank the West Coast teams really, really low. Ranking us ninth at the end is kind of ridiculous. I think our teams have consistently performed well out here … it’s a bit odd that we were that low.””
But McFarland doesn’t worry about it too much-he is already preparing for next year. The Tritons will lose three seniors: Jamie Woods, Kathleen Hentz and Laura Santerre, all of whom were integral to the team’s success last year.
“”It will definitely be tough [replacing the graduating seniors],”” McFarland said. “”[But] we have a great nucleus of players coming back. We had nine freshmen last year, and to get playoff experience and go to the Elite Eight is fabulous experience for them.””
In addition to his team’s excellent play, McFarland is quick to credit another source for his team’s success.
“”We appreciate the support from the students at UCSD that helped us go undefeated at home,”” he said. “”I don’t think we’ve ever had that before.””
