Women's club volleyball team wins national championship

April 20, 2015

Nearly 200 teams from around the country vied for the national title, but in the end, only UW-Whitewater's squad hoisted the trophy.

On April 11, the women's club volleyball team won the National Collegiate Club Volleyball championship, held in Kansas City, Missouri.

"This win is awesome," said James Friel, assistant director of recreation sports and facilities. "UW-Whitewater is known as an athletic campus mainly for the success of its varsity athletics, but it's nice to see a club sport doing so well and winning trophies."

The tournament consisted of five women's divisions, with UW-Whitewater competing in DI AAA. The competition included teams from the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference that the women had lost matches to earlier in the season.

"We had a hard time staying consistent throughout the season. We never found a time our whole team would click," said women's club volleyball president Brianna Neumeyer. "At the national championship, everything finally came together and was perfect."

After strong pool play on Thursday and Friday, the UW-Whitewater women found themselves facing Winona State University for the title. The players had previously lost to WSU in multiple tournaments during conference play, including tournament championship matches. This time around, UW-Whitewater defeated Winona WSU with ease in two games to win the national championship.

"It feels absolutely incredible to end my career as a national champion. You have to go out with a bang and winning the national championship was quite the way to go," said senior Jazmin Herman.

"It's really exciting winning a national championship as a freshman because I didn't expect it at all. I just expected to go and play, but now I have something to work towards for next season," said freshman Katie Skora.

Neumeyer was named MVP of the tournament, and Tessa Snell received first team all-tournament recognition.

This isn't the first national championship won by a UW-Whitewater club sports team. Men's and women's wheelchair basketball, men's rugby, paintball, and men's ultimate Frisbee have won national titles in the past. Between winning national titles, tournaments and enjoying the competition, club sports have so much to offer.

"Club sports are an outlet to play the sports you love. It still has the competitive edge. It's a learning laboratory. You get an outside-of-the-box experience that helps you develop skills for future careers," said Friel.

"If anyone is having trouble adjusting to college or making friends, I strongly suggest that they try a club sport team or join an organization," said Herman. "It's a great way to get out there and meet new people."