Rising Sun defeated Irvin Hall to claim the championship in the Intramural Volleyball Enjoyment League, 15-10, 15-9.
In each of the two games, Irvin held a four-point lead, but Rising Sun managed to come back both times to win over an Irvin team that was without one of its key players, Danette Boboth, due to an all-day class she had on the day of the match.
Mark Lewis, Irvin's captain, said that although there was some concern over Boboth's departure, adequate replacements were found.
Lewis, Boboth and the rest of the team -- Rich Myers, Ralph McKimm, John Museo, Sue Boboth (Danette's sister), Jen Wheaton, Amy Meredith, Sandy Strassner, Stephanie Bird and Kathy Phillips (also a member of the women's basketball team) -- made it through the regular season and the playoffs unscathed. But it ran into an impasse in the form of Rising Sun, a team that was better than Irvin expected, Lewis said.
Rising Sun, consisting of team captain Lisa Morrison, Troy Day, Corey Mitchell, Scott Miller, Matt Osborne, Frances Moret, Anna Morales and Kara Strichler, was assisted in its victory by Osborne's performance, which included a jump serve Lewis described as "impressive."
Lewis felt that Phillips' height (6'3") helped the Irvin team, but Morrison didn't think she presented much of a problem.
"When we saw her, we expected her to have a wicked spike," Morrison said. "She didn't hit a lot. I expected her to hit a lot."
Irvin had problems spiking the ball and getting it over the net, said Lewis, who also credited Rising Sun with a good job of receiving whenever Irvin was serving.
"It's a great team, and I couldn't ask for a better one, as far as skill and personality (are concerned)," Morrison said, adding that the men on her team could spike from anywhere on the court.
Rising Sun went through the regular season and most of the playoffs without much trouble until it got into the semifinal game, which Morrison said was "fairly close." She added that they had observed Irvin and noticed the team's strong hitting -- Lewis' "dead-on spikes" in particular -- and expected the final to be closer than it was.
Rising Sun was formed this year when Morrison met Mitchell and Miller in the IM gym. Mitchell talked about entering the Competitive league, but Morrison said she hadn't seen many of the teams in that league and signed them up for Recreational league instead.
Morrison thinks Rising Sun will be back next year, and is "pretty sure" Rising Sun will try to enter the Competitive league.
Irvin Hall returned Lewis, Myers, McKimm, Museo, the Boboths and Wheaton from last year's team. That team advanced to the first-round playoffs, breezed through the regular season with an undefeated record and easily won its first playoff game.
