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St. Cloud State University
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Volleyball team's losing streak hits four
By Jay Corn
Published:
Monday, October 20, 2003
By all appearances, the women's volleyball team is on the outside looking in on the rest of the N.C.C. In fact, looking at the standings up to this point in the season, it seems like the Huskies are on the extreme outer limits of any developing playoff race.
The Huskies have lost five of their last six matches, and are currently 10-12 overall. The season is currently coming into its stretch run and with only eight matches remaining, the Huskies are looking to make a serious playoff push. After losing two straight matches against N.C.C. competition this past week, the squad now finds itself in sixth place, a full four games back of first place North Dakota State.
The Huskies looked to avenge an earlier season loss to UMD as the Duluth Bulldogs paid a visit to Halenbeck Hall Tuesday. Despite playing their typical scrappy style, the team lost in four games, 30-24, 24-30, 30-21, 30-25.
Jamie Schlagel had 14 kills in the defeat, and hit a team best .306. The loss dropped the Huskies' record to 10-11, the first time they'd been under the .500 mark since very early in the season.
After three solid days of practice, the squad headed to Mankato Saturday hoping to once again reach the .500 mark. However, things didn't go as expected. The Huskies were swept in three games, clearly not performing as well as they have at other times this season. With a final line score of 30-26, 30-18, 30-14, the team fell to 10-12, a full four games out of first place. No SCSU player reached double- digit kills, but Jane Backes came closest with eight. Joy Burgbacher also added two kills and tallied two blocks which led the team.
"I really believe we can make a serious playoff run in the last part of the season," Burgbacher said. "We haven't been playing very well in the last few games, and I think that if we can find our game, then everything will fall into place."
Despite dropping their last two games, Backes believes there is no falling off intensity, and insists everyone on the team is focused and motivated. She does, however, think there are several key areas that need improvement, especially if the squad expects to make a late-season push for the playoffs.
"These last two games have really been lost by our offense," Backes said. "Every ball we hit their way was dug up, and our serving and passing especially are not where they should be. The passing really needs to improve. It was really the biggest flaw in our game yesterday (against Mankato) and if we want to make any noise in the last part of the season, fundamental things like that have to be second nature."
There are some intangible elements that potentially could help boost SCSU in the last quarter of the season. Most notably is the block of home games clustered at the end of the team's schedule. For a team that has had only five home games through the first 23 games of the season, finding five of the remaining eight games are on their home turf seems to be a big motivator.
"All of our losses this year have pretty much come from teams that are ranked higher than us," Burgbacher said. "There is nothing I want to do more than come home for those games and win. Everyone here knows we can beat every one of those teams, and if we can just stay calm, not get nervous and play the way we can play, the results will take care of themselves."
Backes echoed her teammate's thoughts, and according to the soon-to-be graduate, she believes the team is ready to switch into high gear for the last part of the season.
"We've played most of these teams already this season," Backes said of the upcoming competition. "We should be able to learn from our previous mistakes, and execute our game plan. I'm really very optimistic that coming home to the ton of support that we have will be a huge plus, and no matter what happens, I know this team will give its all."
While the benefit of having home court advantage may indeed help, there is no denying the competition's high level of skill. The last eight games on the schedule will be a whirlwind tour of the N.C.C., with seven of the eight opponents coming from within the division. Every one of the games is a potential playoff clincher or eliminator, and with opponents like South Dakota and Mankato coming into Halenbeck Hall, it won't be an easy road.
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