3-0 win against Badgers keeps the hot streak going
Kristina Vlcek
Contributor
It was a battle at Tait Mackenzie October 30. The Lions’ women’s volleyball team played the Brock Badgers in their third conference game of the 2011-2012 season.
Right from the beginning, the Badgers were in the lead, swinging heavy balls and touching impossible digs, making it difficult for the Lions to find their flow.
The Lions found momentum when York middle, Stephanie Green, served shots that sped across the net, making the Badgers shank balls left and right. However, the Badgers continued hitting the floor for every ball. York libero, Jennifer Black, was able to respond with a beautiful one handed dig to help the Lions took the first set 25-23.
The Badgers were hungry for Lion blood in the second set. Rachel Roorda of Brock led the way, being a force down the middle, killing balls in front of the attack line, and building a roof over the net making it hard for York middles to score. At 16-21 for Brock, the Lions started to feel the pressure, and they responded, giving the crowd a TSN turning point. York leftside, Melissa Humaña-Paredes, served a ball that just trickled over the net, bringing their score up to 23-24. The Lions stole the set 26-24, rattling the Badger cage.
It seems that the Badgers had invested everything they had into that second set, hoping it was enough; they looked deflated in this final set.
York second years, Beata Dye and Brandie Wilkerson, shocked the entire gym with two disgusting kills that sent the Badgers home whimpering. The Lions won the third set 25-15, winning the game 3-0, allowing them to keep their perfect record.
The team admitted the game could have been a challenge.
“Well we knew from our 12 o’clock starting time and from our warm up, that we were sluggish,” says coach Nick Tran. “We started the match and I said to them that […] we have to really focus and stay on top of this game or else it can get out of hand real quick.”
“York was really strong. […]
I think it is just a mental thing for us, we are not used to winning. We have got to learn to get over that, push through, get out there, and finish,” says Brock Player of the Game, Lauren Sterling. “In the third set I think it was just a lot of people getting frustrated and getting down.”
York Player of the Game, Tisha Rouse believes the team eventually pulled together well. “With a mix of a few of our errors they just kind of got a roll going on, I think once we realized that we picked up our game a little bit.”
After the game, Tran and the coaching staff had positive words for the team, and a hopeful view of the future.
“I thought that we did the things we needed to do to win that first game. […] Credit to our team though, they never gave up. We came back and got that second game. […] I felt the third game, we played the way we could and needed to play […] and the score was reflective of that.”
The Lions are scheduled to hit home court with their tough competitors, the Waterloo Warriors, at 6 p.m., Friday, November 4. Come support!
