On Saturday we took a trip to Wheaton College in Norton, Mass, to play Roger Williams University and host Wheaton College.
When we walked in the gym, Wheaton and RWU were battling in a hard fought 5 set match. We didn't know it at the time, but that was a sign of things to come.
We played RWU first and started out a little sluggish, but fought hard to push the fifth and decideding set. It was battle all the way. At 11-11 in the fifth set a very long and crazy rally ensued....lots of great defense....in the end, our sophomore co-captain, Penelope Carpenter, dove to save an errant pass, played the ball up and barely over the net for a point. The ball rolled along the top tape of the net for about 10 feet before finally dropping on the other side, falling IN, by about 3 inches. It was a terrific play be Penelope, and I believe a turning point in that 5th set. It really took the wind out of their sails. We went on to win, 15-12 against a very good Roger Williams team.
In the second match of the day, we played a fired up Wheaton team. Again, we got off to an extremely sluggish and slow start, losing the first two sets. But then we came alive and fought back to win the next two sets, again forcing a 5th set. At this point our student-athletes had literally been playing volleyball for about 5 straight hours- with a 15 minute break between the matches. I'm proud to say that I do not think fatigue was a factor. I think our student-athletes are in great shape....however I do think we had a bit of an emotional letdown after the exciting win over Roger Williams.
We came out a little tentative in the fifth set, and were down 8-13, before Kristen Anderson starting serving bullets! She served extremely tough and got us to 14-13, after a great defensive and offensive run by the Bantams! From there it was point for point with Wheaton, until they finally got the deciding point at 21-19. We had our chances and we didn't capitalize on them. Hopefully our team will learn from such a heartbreaking loss and use it to get better for our NESCAC competition this coming weekend at Williams.
The weekend proved one of our mantra's: There are no little things.
Everything counts!
Overall, it was a good weekend. We fought hard, came back many times after being down, played tough without one of our usual starters, made some smart adjustments, and played some great defense. We will have Monday off, and then get in three really great, intense, practices before heading to Williamstown on Friday.
On a lighter note:
We took the team to Storrs on Friday to watch the UCONN womens volleyball team take on Notre Dame. It was a great match with Notre Dame winning, 3-1. I think it was great for our athletes to see such an intense level of play. The defense was impressive. I think it was a fun evening for the Bantams. The picture on this post is from the UCONN/ND match!
When we walked in the gym, Wheaton and RWU were battling in a hard fought 5 set match. We didn't know it at the time, but that was a sign of things to come.
We played RWU first and started out a little sluggish, but fought hard to push the fifth and decideding set. It was battle all the way. At 11-11 in the fifth set a very long and crazy rally ensued....lots of great defense....in the end, our sophomore co-captain, Penelope Carpenter, dove to save an errant pass, played the ball up and barely over the net for a point. The ball rolled along the top tape of the net for about 10 feet before finally dropping on the other side, falling IN, by about 3 inches. It was a terrific play be Penelope, and I believe a turning point in that 5th set. It really took the wind out of their sails. We went on to win, 15-12 against a very good Roger Williams team.
In the second match of the day, we played a fired up Wheaton team. Again, we got off to an extremely sluggish and slow start, losing the first two sets. But then we came alive and fought back to win the next two sets, again forcing a 5th set. At this point our student-athletes had literally been playing volleyball for about 5 straight hours- with a 15 minute break between the matches. I'm proud to say that I do not think fatigue was a factor. I think our student-athletes are in great shape....however I do think we had a bit of an emotional letdown after the exciting win over Roger Williams.
We came out a little tentative in the fifth set, and were down 8-13, before Kristen Anderson starting serving bullets! She served extremely tough and got us to 14-13, after a great defensive and offensive run by the Bantams! From there it was point for point with Wheaton, until they finally got the deciding point at 21-19. We had our chances and we didn't capitalize on them. Hopefully our team will learn from such a heartbreaking loss and use it to get better for our NESCAC competition this coming weekend at Williams.
The weekend proved one of our mantra's: There are no little things.
Everything counts!
Overall, it was a good weekend. We fought hard, came back many times after being down, played tough without one of our usual starters, made some smart adjustments, and played some great defense. We will have Monday off, and then get in three really great, intense, practices before heading to Williamstown on Friday.
On a lighter note:
We took the team to Storrs on Friday to watch the UCONN womens volleyball team take on Notre Dame. It was a great match with Notre Dame winning, 3-1. I think it was great for our athletes to see such an intense level of play. The defense was impressive. I think it was a fun evening for the Bantams. The picture on this post is from the UCONN/ND match!
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