2007 Northland Volleyball Highlights

• Most wins in a season since 1997
• First playoff appearance since being a member of the UMAC (1998)
• First UMAC playoff championship in school history
• Tripled the number of conference wins from three in 2006 to nine in 2007
• Went from a 7^th place UMAC finish in ’06 to a 4^th place UMAC finish in ’07.
• Most conference wins in a season since being a part of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (1998)
• Three All-Tournament team representatives: Freshman Laura Fisher (Pikes Peak Challenge); Sarah Hank (Augsburg College Tournament); Sarah Hank (UWS/CSS Bridge Tournament).
• Only UMAC team to have not one, but two freshmen (Sarah Hank and Courtney Kinney) named 1^st Team All-Conference
• Two other LumberJills named Honorable Mention All-Conference: sophomores Melissa Anderson and Chelsea Lundgren
• Two UMAC Player of the Week Honors in mid-October: Melissa Anderson (Hitter Award) and Courtney Kinney (Setter Award)
• First extended trip in over a decade by opening the season with a tournament at Colorado College
• Volunteered for the first ever Ashland JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk–A-Thon

The 2007 season is one that will go down in the record books as one of the greatest ‘turn around’ seasons of all-time. The LumberJills finished the season with an overall record of 18-17 and a UMAC (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) record of 9-5. The previous season, the Jill’s were only 10-21 and 3-11 in the UMAC. One of the more impressive parts of this turn around is that the Jill’s were picked to finish in 6^th place (out of 8 teams) in the preseason poll and exceeded all expectations with a roster of no seniors, one junior, five sophomores, and eight freshmen.

Throughout the season, the Jill’s continued to work hard and improve each week. They were a team that was average at the beginning and through their season theme of ‘Striving for Greatness’, they were able to grow into a team that peaked during their conference playoffs on November 3^rd. Despite being the 4^th seed, the LumberJills bumped off #1 seed Northwestern College of St. Paul, MN in an exciting come-from-behind five-game victory. They then proceeded to claim the 2007 UMAC Playoff Championship by defeating the #2 seed Bethany Lutheran of Mankato, MN in another emotional come-from-behind five-game win.

It is certainly an exciting time to be a part of the Northland College Volleyball program. The team is working hard in the off-season to repeat their playoff finish of 2007 and also has high expectations to be a part of the NCAA Division III National Volleyball Tournament in the near future. Meanwhile, the program continues to embrace the Division III philosophy of finding the healthy balance of academics and athletics while also maintaining high character on the court, in the classroom, and within the community.