Northwestern won their 32nd straight conference regular season match last night, beating us in straight sets... but we did some things really well- we were very scrappy on defense and tried some new things there. We had some very nice blocks, getting stuff blocks and also getting some touches that made it easier for our defenders to dig balls. We are working on playing an entire match well, from the first point to the last. When we do that on a consistent basis--- look out UMAC!
Then we faced Waldorf, a team that last year beat us in 4-- we proceeded to sweep them, after an exciting first set that saw us win, 27-25. In that set we made our best "hustle" play of the year, as the first ball over was shanked about 20' behind the court and 20' back to the right. From there Hanson ran all the way over in a full sprint to backpass it back towards the court, about 10' off the net, but still 15' off to the right... from there Thomas and Clark ran after it before one of them (I think Clark...) swung her right hand at the ball, running away from the net to get it back over and keep the play alive- which we ended up winning on a hitting error by them. We won the 2nd and 3rd sets fairly easily to earn a split on the night.
After volleyball, we went to the Humphrey's house and had another excellent dinner, pasta, breadsticks, salad, s'mores, brownies and hot chocolate!
Here are some photos-- thanks to the Humphrey's and the Stinchfield's!
Go Cougars!
Coach B
PS- Just a heads up-- last year, after losing to Northwestern we were 3-7 overall and finished the season winning 12 of our last 20 matches!
