Successful season comes to an end

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The clock finally struck midnight for Virginia Commonwealth University’s volleyball team.

The Cinderella squad fell 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-21) to 14th-seeded Purdue Friday in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament at the Dean Smith Center.

“I am proud of my team,” VCU first-year head coach James Finley said. “I’m disappointed in the outcome though.”

The Boilermakers’ sweep does not indicate how close the match was.

The first game had a plethora of long points with an array of spikes and point-saving digs. Neither team was able to score more than three consecutive points or gain a considerable advantage.

With the score knotted at 26, the Boilermakers were able to score four of the next five points to take the first game.

“Those points could have easily been on our side,” senior Shahrzad Firouzabadian (Richmond/Mills Godwin High School) said. “Those things happen in volleyball.”

The second game began much like the first. Neither team was able to separate themselves from the other until the Boilermakers reeled off eight of nine points to take a 29-23 advantage.

The Rams gave the Boilermakers points with some momentary mental lapses, twice being called for rotation errors.

“I just didn’t get out (of the court) in time,” senior Griselle Lopez Pereira (Caguas, Puerto Rico) said.

Firouzabadian added: “It was little mistakes,” that prevented the Rams from evening the match. “Mistakes we do not usually make.”

The Boilermakers started the third game strong, gaining an 11-4 lead, an edge they would not relinquish. They pushed the lead to as many as 10 before the Rams cut it to 26-20 when a Purdue spike went wide.

But the Boilermakers responded by winning four the final five points and the match.

Ludmilla Francescatto (Fraiburga, Brazil), a first team all-CAA selection, led the Rams with 14 kills, and Melissa Peterson, one of only four members of the Navajo tribe to compete in the NCAA Tournament, (Ganado, Ariz.) added 12 for the Rams. Lopez Pereira contributed 22 digs, many coming on dives to keep points alive.

Peterson became

“We were very impressed by their hitting,” Purdue head coach Dave Shondell said. “We knew they had some exciting players.”

Purdue senior setter Renata Dargan added: “Props to VCU. They came out and played well.”

Despite the loss, Finley said the season was a success.

“We were fortunate to have the season we had,” Finley said.

This season was a dramatic change from last year’s results, a season the Rams finished 6-21, and the accomplishments were numerous.

The Rams (11-7 CAA, 22-12) made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament by winning the team’s first CAA Tournament title.

As the fourth seed in the conference tournament, the Rams became the lowest-seeded team to win the tournament. They also swept top seed and host Hofstra in the semifinals and downed defending champion Towson in the finals.

The team won the Third Degree Sportswear Invitational earlier in the season, a tournament played at the Siegel Center, and the 11 conference wins are the most in the university’s history.

The Rams were also able to right the ship after a stretch where they lost seven of eight games during September. The team rebounded by winning 16 of their final 20 games, including win streaks of four, five and six games.

The culmination of the season also brings to an end the college careers of Firouzabadian and Lopez Pereira, the university’s all-time leader in digs.

“The two young ladies got on board,” Finley said. “They grew as players and as people. We grew as a team because of their leadership. They had a huge impact on the success that we’ve had.”