Here is the link to The Press Gazette article covering last night's match.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110923/GPG020506/109230517/Girls-volleyball-2010-disappointment-feeds-Notre-Dame-s-hunger-more?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
And in case the link doesn't work, I might as well paste the article.....
Girls volleyball: 2010 disappointment feeds Notre Dame's hunger for more
The Tritons remember the pride they felt after capturing their first Fox River Classic Conference title and the disappointment that lingered after falling one win short of making the program's first WIAA state tournament appearance.
Time after time, that's all the motivation the Tritons have needed to get back on the right track.
After graduating only three seniors, Notre Dame picked up right where it left off this season and continued its winning ways on Thursday with a dominating victory over visiting Ashwaubenon 25-16, 25-10, 25-11.
Now 21-1 overall and 6-0 in the FRCC, the Tritons debuted as the sixth-ranked team in Division 2 in the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association's first poll of the season this week.
Notre Dame is still fine-tuning its lineup, but the Tritons have no shortage of expectations after going 38-3 season last year, including an unblemished 11-0 FRCC record.
"We have a bull's-eye on our back not only because we were conference champs last year, but also the season we had and how we finished," said Larsen, whose team advanced to the D2 sectional finals before falling to 11-time state champion Waupun.
"We just have to keep working. We've raised the expectation level of where we want to be and the kids understand that, too, and where they want to be and the level that they want to be playing at."
Larsen returned four seniors in setter Becca Mastey, libero Brooke Loritz, middle blocker Sarah Weigman and outside hitter Erin Lehman.
In Thursday's win over the Jaguars, Mastey tallied 33 assists, sophomore Maddie Wienkers had six aces and Lehman led the Tritons with 21 kills.
A two-time co-FRCC player of the year, Lehman entered Thursday as the conference leader in points (89) and kills (66) after leading the conference with 190 kills a year ago.
As impressive as her offensive production has been, Lehman put a greater emphasis on her defense during the offseason with her club team, Fox Cities Elite.
If Lehman and the Tritons needed any indication of how far they've come, they got it when they defeated Germantown in the championship of last weekend's Pewaukee Invitational.
"We know what our potential is and we kind of proved it to ourselves at that tournament," said Lehman, a Marquette recruit. "We got that momentum back, which is so exciting because we know we can do it this year. We know we have all the pieces."
Like last year, the Tritons find themselves in the conference title hunt with De Pere, also 6-0 in the FRCC. The teams will meet Oct. 6.
Beyond that, Notre Dame has aspirations of claiming the first state berth in program history.
The last time the area was represented at the WIAA state volleyball tournament was in 2007 when Oconto Falls (D2) and N.E.W. Lutheran (D4) advanced.
This year, there appears to be plenty of worthy candidates with Luxemburg-Casco (fourth), Oconto Falls (10th) and Notre Dame ranked in D2.
After being one win away from state last season, the Tritons are hopeful this is their year.
"We've seen how high the level of competition can be," said Mastey, a UWGB recruit. "How much better we have to be and how much harder we have to work in practice. We have to be determined to not let that happen again and get that one step further."
