Record-setting season comes up short

The Point Park University volleyball team made a name for themselves by making nationals for the first time and accumulating a 36-6 record for the 2011 season.

Outside hitter and Captain Lindsey Oberacker was pleased with the progress the team made this season.

"We started off with a lot of new people and needed to find that chemistry and that balance, but our season and our record show that it worked out and we fulfilled some things that Point Park has never been able to do, so it was cool to be able to do that," Oberacker said Wednesday in the Boulevard Apartments.

The first milestone for the Point Park volleyball team involved Head Coach Mike Bruno, who in the first match of the season picked up his 250th career win. Bruno also got his 275th career win later on in the season.

"It was very exciting to be there for that and to help him make it that far," libero Alyssa Hall said on Sunday in a phone interview. "This was my third year so the juniors have had a big part in it and so did the seniors. The freshmen and sophomores are all just making the program better. It's just really exciting to get that for him because I know it's a really big deal and I'm just happy to be there for him."

The team made Point Park history by becoming the first team to have a match in the Student and Convocation Center. The match was a success as 300 people showed up to watch the Pioneers defeat University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown three sets to zero.

"We've never been able to play on campus, so to do that was pretty cool, because it's a lot easier for students to come to games and for them to be able to see what we are all about," Oberacker said.

Two of the biggest matches of the year for Point Park this season were the matchup against Walsh University at the Greentree SportsPlex and the match against Holy Names University for the right to make it to nationals. The defeat of Walsh was the first ever in the team's history and the emotional win over Holy Names gave Point Park their first ever berth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Tournament. Oberacker and Hall reflected back on both games and what they meant for her.

"For a personal victory I would say Walsh was huge, but nothing felt like winning that game against Holy Names," Oberacker said. "We've never had a national bid, so I was even teary-eyed after that game. Against Walsh, I was pumped up, I knew that we could beat them, but Holy Names was a challenge."

"Walsh is always a good win because they're always our biggest rival," Hall said. "I know that we want to try and play them again next year, just because they're always a good team. A great team win was against Holy Names. After that game everyone was just so happy because we were on our home court. We've never been that far before and to be home, that has to be the team win of the year."

The team also was able to set records which included the most regular season wins and most wins in a season. Hall, a junior, notes the progression the team has made in her three seasons.

"I know our freshman year, we set the bar really high and it just kept getting higher and higher," Hall said. "Hopefully next year we make it even higher and raise the bar for years to come."

Point Park has also hosted the American Mideast Conference (AMC) Tournament at the Student Center, which once again allowed for the Point Park community to show up in large numbers to support the team as they ultimately won the tournament final over Daemen College.

"For the past two years, I've been playing in other people's home gyms for AMC Tournaments, so it was nice to finally have a one up on everybody and be able to have our fans and our atmosphere that we are used to," Oberacker said. "That Student Center Gym is not the easiest place to play in, so we had all of the advantages in the world."

The team has received numerous honors from the AMC as well as outside of the conference that have been both athletically and academically. The AMC honors were dominated by the team, although for Oberacker that is not enough.

"It was pretty obvious that we had some really good offensive threats, but it kind of upset a lot of people on the team that our defensive people [Amanda Ardinger, Margaret Gillooly and Hall] weren't honored as much as they should be," Oberacker said. "Those little munchkins back there are incredible, and I wish they would create a defensive team for the AMC, because they would take all of the honors."

While the lack of recognition of Point Park defense has upset both the team's players and coaches, the team knows that receiving this kind of recognition helps the team accomplish a universal goal.

"When you get recognition from outside of your conference, it just shows that we're doing our best to put Point Park on the map," Oberacker said. "Not a lot of people know who we are, but this year, we made it to the national tournament and people were asking ‘who's that team'. Now, we're recognized as a national threat, so I think that does nothing but help get us on the map."

Oberacker herself was named AMC MVP, on the first team of, as well as on College Sports Information Directors of American's academic team and NAIA All-Academic team. Oberacker who has a 3.9 grade point average, notes how important both her classes and volleyball are to her.

"Grades are obviously very important to me. I want to go to med school, so you can't slack off in undergrad," Oberacker said. "I take pride in the fact that I'm able to balance being an athlete and a student, and I think if your mind's not in it in school then you're worried about that and not able to focus on the court."