Chill Close out Thunder; Crowned Champions -- The Tiger's Den

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Date Posted: 08:37:06 05/06/02 Mon
Author: Tiger Casey
Subject: Chill Close out Thunder; Crowned Champions

Another professional championship has come home to UOP.

The Minnesota Chill withstood a furious comeback by a determined Chicago Thunder squad, holding on to win the first ever USPV Championship 3-2 after holding a 2 games to love lead. The line scores were 25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 20-25, 15-11. Minnesota finishes the season at 16-9, while Chicago ends at 13-11. A successful comeback by Chicago would have been the first match this year to see a team recover from 2-0 down to win. The match was also the first of the Championship Series to see the winner of the first game actually win the match.

The Chill were led once again by season-MVP runner-up Nicole Branagh, who had a career-best night: 17 kills, 5.5 blocks, and 2 aces for 24.5 points. She also had 4 digs and one set assist. Branagh, Minnesota's star outside hitter, hit .333 (17 kills, 4 errors, 39 attempts) in being named the Player of the Match and series MVP. Tyra Harper also played well, contributing 11-4-2-17 and 11 digs; setter Lindsey Berg was 5-2-1-8, 8 digs, and a whopping 51 set assists. The immortal Addie Mahnken had 11 digs from her customary libero position in the final match.

Branagh was almost overwhelmed by the attention showered on her after the match. "Being named MVP of the series is a great honor. I couldn't have done it without my teammates," she said. "My teammates make me a great player."

As usual, outside hitter Kristee Porter, the regular season USPV MVP, was out in the forefront for Chicago. She had 22-4.5-0-26.5, and 9 digs. Terri Zemaitis-Boumans was 8-2.5-2-12.5, 6 digs, and 1 set assist. Setter par-excellence Bonnie Bremner had 4 digs and tied Berg with 51 set assists.

Berg, the league's best setter, showed why she was also the league's best server. Counting the playoffs, Berg had at least one ace in the last 8 matches, and had at least one in a whopping 23 of the 25 matches. Wow.

You should see the trophy. It is huge and reminds one of a crystal version of the Lombardi Trophy. The volleyball on top is well-crafted, and appears to be made of the finest Waterford crystal. I hope it goes around like the Stanley Cup. I'd love for this beautiful thing to hit UOP!

Congratulations to the Minnesota Chill and their awesome libero, the awesome Addie Mahnken! May they repeat next year! GO CHILL!!! GO TIGERS!!! GO ADDIE!!!
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