2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball falls to Bemidji State
Travis Weldon
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
| |
|
It was no different Tuesday night at Halenbeck Hall.
The SCSU volleyball team (5-7 0-0 NCC) dropped the first game and eventually the match 3-1 (25-30, 30-26, 24-30, 16-30) to non-conference opponent Bemidji State University (3-4 0-2 NSIC).
"They (Bemidji State) were in system most of the night," SCSU head coach Patricia Mickow said. "They passed well, which allowed them to run their offense."
Junior outside hitter Emily Baldwin notched a team-high 17 kills in the match. First-year outside hitter Ashley Shields put away 14 kills, while junior middle hitter Kelly Lynn Isaacson was third for the Huskies with 10.
As a team, Bemidji State recorded 12 blocks in the match, compared to just six for the Huskies.
Junior libero Andreana Pieper led the team defensively with 30 digs, and first-year setter Jennifer Waterman recorded a match-high 45 set assists.
Bemidji State senior Brittney Burns had a match-high 20 kills. She was followed by freshman Nicole Olson with 16 and sophomore Brie Groskreutz with 13.
In the first game, Bemidji State had five runs of three points or more to take control of the game and led 20-12. The Huskies did not give up and made a late surge to get the score within three at 25-22.
Bemidji State was able to fend off the late rally to escape with a 30-25 game victory.
The first game was plagued by offensive miscues by the Huskies. They had 10 points given to Bemidji State due to attack errors, service errors and bad sets.
"In the first game, we didn't step out like we wanted to," Isaacson said. "We should have stepped out a long stronger in the first game."
Isaacson also added six defensive digs, five blocks and one set assist in the match.
The roles were reversed in the second game, with Bemidji State causing 11 offensive errors on their own. The Huskies took advantage of Bemidji State's offensive lapse and Waterman accounted for 12 of her 45 set assists in this game.
"We let up on passes, we let up on coverage, we let balls drop, we quit talking," Bemidji State head coach Laurie Bitter said listing what went wrong in the second game. "We let up on defense, expecting someone else to take it. We were confident the first game, and just kind of let up."
The Huskies jumped out to a 12-5 lead, only to see it evaporate when Bemidji State fell into a groove and tied the game at 16. The comeback did not faze the Huskies, as they were able to shut the door 30-26 heading into the intermission.
"We did a better job playing the ball on serve receive and getting out hitters in position to be successful," Mickow said.
Playing in system was the key for the Huskies in the second game.
"We started playing more of our game in system," Isaacson said. "We felt more comfortable, we started talking more"
In the third game, the Huskies came out on fire. Three kills by Baldwin, one by Waterman, and five errors quickly turned into a 9-4 lead. Bemidji State was forced to call an early timeout.
It was just what Bemidji State needed, as the timeout sparked a 12-2 run to put them up 16-11.
The Huskies would answer with a 6-1 run of their own to knot the game at 17.
However, Bemidji State proved to be too much as they went on at 13-7 run to win the game three 30-24.
"Bemidji did great at hustling," Isaacson said. "They didn't give up on any ball. We would think that the ball went down, they kept playing through it."
According to Bitter, that is no accident.
"We do a lot of training," Bitter said. "We work very hard in practices. I expect them to hustle every single practice. If they get used to hustling in practice, it is going to come out in games."
The wind was out of the Huskies sails in the fourth game, as Bemidji State took control 6-0 early and never looked back to win 30-16.
"We've been working on playing better defense and closing out blocks," Bitter said. "The key for us was basically keeping patient on our passes, speeding up our offense and being aggressive on our defense."
Isaacson stressed how important communicating with teammates is.
"In the first game, and then the third and fourth game, we weren't talking," Isaacson said. "There was very little communication on the court and the intensity was pretty low."
The win for Bemidji State marked their first road win of the season.
"We needed it," Bitter said about the first road win. "It was very big for us because we are a young team. It was a big win and a big confidence booster for our team."
Up next for the Huskies is the first NCC match-up at #13 Augustana 5 p.m. on Saturday.