After a VERY long wait, we had our tri-match at Ramapo College yesterday, and it was some very action-packed ball! We started by getting picked up at 6:30 in the morning by our coach, who took us back to campus where a Crystal Transport Bus awaited our arrival. It's a good thing we ended up taking it, because the weather was so bad that I honestly don't know if we would have made the trip otherwise (to give you an idea, we arrived back home at 3 am. Our matches were scheduled for 1 and 3 pm).
The tri-match consisted of 9th in the nation Ramapo (home team), Hunter, who was ranked 15th, and ourselves, currently ranked 10th. We arrived at the gym midway through the second game between Ramapo/Hunter. It ended up being a pretty good match, with Ramapo taking it in 5. Hunter is a very scrappy team, and they run a hybrid 6-3 offense I've never seen before, but man are they fun to watch. It's a shame 2 of their studs transferred to Baruch, because otherwise I feel they'd be a legitimate competitor for the top of NECVAs otherwise.
We ended up playing Hunter after this, and beat them in 4 close games. We probably could have swept them, just a few mistakes here and there that they capitalized ended up being the difference in game 3. They have some phenominal defense in the backrow, but their middles really struggle with closing the block, so we had a field day exploiting solo blocks. I think Hunter will be a tough team all season, but there are a few things that I believe the top teams will continue to exploit, and they'll probably float between 10th and 15th nationally all season.
The match vs. Ramapo was after this, and it was a battle. The first game we came out flat and lost 30-24, the second game we came out hot and won 30-23, lost a barnburner 31-33 in the third, won a 30-28 game 4 that we should have put away much earlier, and lost 15-13 in game 5. Absolute heartbreaker, and I was disappointed afterwards thinking about how a lot of plays I could have done differently would have made the difference, but you can't dwell on what went wrong, just gotta keep moving forward. I look forward to seeing Ramapo in the NECVAS later on this season!
Despite the loss, we had what I felt was the best team dinner I've ever had as an athlete. Lots of team bonding, lots of laughing, and just an overall morale builder. We didn't get back til late, but everyone slept in, and the excitement for the Vassar match tonight is just incredible. I can't remember the last time (if ever) the players were this excited for a match, perhaps the home opener against Rivier 2 years ago when they were ranked 7th in the nation (which we won!). The crowd is always electrifying at Hellenic College (where our home games are, I believe we're the only NCAA men's volleyball team without a gym..), and I know we'll be feeding off of it. This is Vassar's first match of the season, so we'll see if they're still working out the kinks for replacing the graduates, or if their hitting their stride already.
I will post more details about this weekend/Vassar match later tonight! Wish us luck!
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