The women’s volleyball came into this Friday’s action looking to put an end to their longest losing streak of the season. Winless in their last four, it was evident that the team needed to regain their early season momentum.
“So far, our play is nowhere as good as it can be. I do think improvements are being made daily, but there is still significant room to improve. I always try my best to be encouraging and hold my teammates to a high standard because I know they are capable,” senior captain Lexi Kegerise said.
With a .500 record after 20 games (10-10, 1-5 PSAC), there is no doubt that the squad has performed reasonably well when considering the number of freshmen starters on the team. In fact, first-year players have been responsible for 117 kills, and roughly 40 percent of the Rams assists with 274 on the year. However, reasonably well is not what the team is looking for as they aim to make another post-season run this year.
Friday’s contest saw the girls do battle with the Warriors of East Stroudsburg. ESU, led by head coach Allison Keely in her first year with the team, is currently in a similar situation with the Rams, drawing even through their first 12 matches played (6-6) this season. Both sides came into Friday’s action following a busy weekend at the crossover, with the Warriors going 2-1 in at home, and West Chester unable to come up with a win in all four matches played at Hollinger Fieldhouse.
The Rams would finally put an end to their drought with a definitive win over East Stroudsburg in the minimum three sets (24-28, 25-16, 25-16). The first set, ended with a kill by Julia O’Brien, was a good indication of how the rest of the match would play out. The Warriors would end up costing themselves 27 points by the end of the contest due to failed attempts on offense (-.076 attacking percentage).
Kegerise led the team in points (11), adding to her season totals with 10 kills, two block assists and three digs. Setter Mary Faust contributed for 18 of the team’s 31 assists, and Tori Hutchinson added an additional nine helpers. The win improved the Rams record to 10-9 heading into the final game of their home stand against Lock Haven on Saturday.
The Eagles have played exceptionally well against conference opponents this season (4-1) despite an only above average 8-7 record entering the game against West Chester. Lock Haven ousted the Rams in both of their meetings last season, with each match decided by a 3-0 score line. This game would be no different, as the Eagles would need only three sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-21) to continue their winning streak over the Rams. The game was lost due to a “lack of drive and determination” according to head coach Kassie Bellaver.
Lock Haven was led by their three-time PSAC east player of the year Gao Xuan on offense with 17 points and 15 kills. Kelly Martin had a solid game on offense, putting up six kills, one service ace and one block assist. In her best performance of the season, Hutchinson posted 12 assists, one service ace, and four digs in the loss. Defensively, libero Morgan Litak and Dana Markol recorded nine and 10 digs respectively.
With a split in this weekend’s action, the Rams find themselves at 1-5 in conference play thus far in the season. “Communication is the backbone behind any good team and we need to work hard to better communicate with each other,” Martin explained. “Playing wise, obviously our passing, setting, hitting and serving all can improve, but our communication is what is making us fall behind. We need to strive to be more consistent and aggressive.”
Hopefully, the girls will be able to work their way out of a rather rocky start through five games. They hit the road next weekend to square off against Kutztown on Friday, followed by Mercyhurst and Gannon on Saturday at the PSAC West crossover. Coach Bellaver will look to shake things up this week at practice with a few lineup changes in the hope they will produce a positive result come game time next Friday.
West Chester currently sits in fifth out of seven teams in the PSAC Eastern Division.
Joshua Shapiro is a second-year student majoring in English and education. He can be reached at JS762110@wcupa.edu.