With five players sidelined with various ailments and injuries, the St. Cloud State Huskies traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on Augustana College.
“This is not what we planned on,” said head coach Patricia Gerchy. “Last year we had one player injured. This year to have five players sidelined hurts. Even with these injuries we are not playing poorly. We have had chances in every set.
“The opposing team and our fans know we are not going to just go away and lose, we are still going to fight to the end. Now we have to mentally teach them to get over that hump to play the last five points like you did your first five points.”
The Huskies (6-13, 2-5) lost three close sets to the Augies (8-9, 3-2) 25-21, 25-23 and 25-23.
“Its tough to lose close sets,” Gerchy said. “The girls are determined in every point. They do not just give up at the end. They fight to get back in the game. They are sick of losing too. Momentum swings at all times during volleyball. It happens before sets, during sets, after a timeout, whenever. Sometimes it is just unexplainable.
“They have a great attitude, they work hard every day. We try to maintain a positive, enthusiastic atmosphere. As a staff we want to walk off the gym knowing we did our best to prepare the girls and I think and hope that the girls walk off the court thinking the same thing about the game.”
Kayla Tschida had an outstanding game for the Huskies posting 16 kills and a career-high 20 digs. Defensive specialists Sarah Madden and Chelsea Nagle had 18 and 13 digs respectively.
“We put them in game type situations everyday in practice,” Gerchy said. “They haven’t had anybody in front of them to teach them how to win. They have to learn how to win consistently and play at the high-level of consistency. It can be hard on the young players who don’t have any experience and might not be successful right away.
“Everybody loses for some reason. We have to get over that hump and play solid and confident through the last five points. We want them to understand the process and execute.”
The Huskies have to travel to St. Paul this Saturday for a match against the two-time defending champion and first-ranked Concordia University.
“I don’t care who you are,” Gerchy said. “Anybody can get beat in this game. The team is realistic. They know what is in front of them and know what kind of level they have to play at with Concordia. We have to get the fundamentals right and be ready for every ball.
The Huskies will play Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 3 in St. Paul at Gangelhoff Center at 6 p.m.
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