Although the men’s club volleyball team didn’t perform the way it wanted to at the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference championships last weekend, it still has one final opportunity to turn its season into a great one.

The team will travel to Houston to participate in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Tournament, which starts tomorrow and lasts through Saturday.

The Warhawks placed fifth last year at nationals, and enter this year’s tournament with the same goal.

“Our expectations are to at least make the gold bracket, so that would be part of the top 16 teams,” senior outside hitter Mark Haertle said. “Anything less than that will be a letdown for us.”

In the WVC championships, the ’Hawks tied for third, losing in a disappointing three-set match to Marquette University in the semifinals.  UW-Oshkosh won the tournament.

Splitting with the Golden Eagles in the regular season, Haertle said they shouldn’t have lost the match.

“It was disappointing. We think we are a way better team than Marquette, and we shouldn’t have lost to them,” Haertle said.

Haertle was named to the all-conference team and all-tournament team honors, while senior Kori Vernon was named honorable mention all-conference.

The ’Hawks, who finished the season with a 9-5 record, came into the season having one of the most talented squads of all-time, but have had to battle through injuries all year.

“The regular season had its ups and downs with plenty of injuries,” junior President Mark Scheckel said.  “Four out of our five losses were when we did not have our starting lineup in.”

Scheckel also expects a high finish to the season and is excited to participate in his first national tournament.

“I don’t know exactly what nationals is like, because this will be the first time for me, but I assume it is like any big tournament,” Scheckel said. “I am very excited for it, and I expect our team to finish in the top 20.”

With a disappointing conference finish, Scheckel said in order for the season to be a success, the team needs to reach that gold bracket.

“Obviously our hopes are for a national title, but we need to get to gold for the season to be a success,” Scheckel said. “After that, another top-10 finish would be great to have again.”