V-Hawks unbeaten and No. 2 in country, while UW-L started season very strong
It’s a crosstown rivalry that hasn’t been a rivalry for some time.
Since the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Viterbo started playing for the Coulee Cup in 2008, the V-Hawks have won every match – seven in a row.
At 7 p.m. tonight, judging a book by its cover – and the last couple pages of the story – it looks like it’ll be win number eight for the V-Hawks over the Eagles, which do hold a 26-10 all-time lead.
Despite losing three-time, first-team all-American Alicia Olson, who led the nation with 855 kills last season (183 more kills than the next best player), Viterbo is ranked No. 2 in the NAIA.
The V-Hawks, who went to the Final Four last season – and lost their setter late in the tournament that hampered the team down the stretch – have opened this season 10-0, and it’s an impressive run, at that.
Before the sweep of UW-Eau Claire, Viterbo came home with a tournament championship in Columbia, Mo., beating the No. 10-, No. 1- and No. 3-ranked teams in consecutive matches.
The V-Hawks took down No. 10 Columbia College 3-1 on Sept. 4. The next day, they beat No. 1-ranked Park University, 3-1, and followed that up with a 3-2 win over third-ranked Missouri Baptist.
Now, it’s a home match against an Eagles team that has started the season very well at 7-2, after a 3-1 record at the Augsburg Invitational.
The Eagles started that invite with a 3-2 victory over No. 20 St. Thomas, before falling to No. 25 Augsburg 3-2 in back-to-back matches. UW-L’s only other loss came 3-1 to Saint Mary’s University.
In two of the last three matches between UW-L and Viterbo, it hasn’t been completely lopsided. In 2013 the teams went to a fifth set. The year before, it took four sets for the V-Hawks to win.
Replacing Olson has been a combination of hitters for the V-Hawks. Sara Biermaier and Natalie Geidel lead the team with 114 and 113 kills, respectively, while Siera Skow is right behind at 104.
Olson finished her career Viterbo’s all-time kills leader (2,468 – 628 more than the next best player), but Viterbo hasn’t just had to replace her. The V-Hawks also lost their all-time leader in assists in Brianna Brinkman, who finished with 3,677 in her career (497 more than the next best player).
Amelia Grahn has stepped into those shoes and is averaging 10.7 assists per set.
Jennifer Krentz leads the team with 180 digs. She entered the season third on the school’s all-time list and will most likely finish the school’s career leader in digs.
For UW-L, Stephanie Henk leads the team with 109 kills, while Jill Entinger has 95. Jaclyn Barrette leads the team with 11.1 assists per set.