We're off today, and I know it's a much-needed day of rest, especially with Division II Rival New Haven coming to town tomorrow. We've played them the last two years at their gym, losing a 5-set heartbreaker my freshman year, then getting revenge in a 4-set win last year. I'm looking forward to taking the rubbermatch from them!
We played in the Gothic Knights' Tournament this year, which is hosted by New Jersey City University. We've won the past two years, and were excited for the chance to make it a three-peat. A rough start to the tournament as our other starting outside was sick as a dog, and ended up sleeping on the bleachers all tournament. Still, we had plenty of players ready to rise to the occasion, and played what I felt was some of our best ball since I've been at the school.
This was almost a relief, as Thursday we swept Wentworth, but did so in a very ugly manner. There was no energy on the court, the people on the sidelines weren't clapping or celebrating, and to be blunt, it was a boring match to watch because we certainly didn't do anything special. I felt like we needed a spark, and for whatever reason we ended up finding it at the tournament.
Our first match was against SUNY-IT, who was still looking for their first win of the season. The second-string hit the floor, and really did a good job! Defense was strong, hitters put the ball away, and the energy was great. We won 30-22 30-22 30-11. Next up: SUNY New Paltz.
SUNY New Paltz is an interesting team. I didn't remember much about them because last year when we played them in a tri-match at Elms I ended up getting sick and passed out on the bleachers (perhaps we're allergic to them). I knew from their wins over MIT/Emmanuel that they were no joke this season, and figured the winner of this match would win the tournament.
They have a 6'4 senior middle that plays all the way around, a decent 6'8 freshman middle, a couple bigger hitters at the pins, and a somewhat versatile offense. However, their setter is 5'5, so that provided for some BIG mismatches on the outside. I felt our defense was stronger as well, and that our 4th/5th hitting options were stronger than theirs.
We come out hot the first game, serving aggressively, blocking well, making them force shots and hit error after error. We out-hit them .364 to .094, and cruised to a 30-19 win. Game 2 is a bit different, with both teams trading points back and forth. New Paltz is starting to run more combo plays, and catching more solo blocks, even getting a no-block or two in the process. Still, good teams find a way to win even when it's ugly, and despite them outhitting us .314 to .171 we squeaked out a 30-28 win. Game 3 we start playing much scrappier defense, picking up a lot of strong hits by them. They're playing well but we refuse to give them any ground, and although we failed to finish on the first few match points we had, we end up winning 30-25 to take the sweep.
This puts us in the finals, and although we've played NJCU the last two years, Stevenson (formerly Villa Julie) beats them in 4 to earn a trip to the finals against us. They have a couple strong hitters, but with a smaller setter and suspect defense, I felt that as long as we played our game we'd have no problem. And sure enough, it was one of the best all-around matches we've played. We didn't get aced once. We had no hitting errors the third game, and hit .402 for the match. Six of our players had 5 kills or more. We blocked well, and our serve receive was about as good as it gets. We ended up winning 30-18, 30-25, 30-11, to take home our third championship in a row!
I honestly thought everyone pulled their weight and then some. Everyone had brought something to the table, and when we're able to get production from everyone, I don't think there's a team we can't beat in Division III. It'll be nice to have Beck back tomorrow hopefully, but it's good to know that when he's not around there are plenty of people able to fill that void.
Individually, I've been on a decent stretch. I'm taking less swings, but my production is about the same. In the last six matches, I've hit 76-20-154 (.364), 13 aces, 61 digs, and 8 blocks (through 19 sets). Because of the lower amount of sets, I feel like all my other numbers are much better, as I'm not nearly as tired towards the end of matches. I'm hoping to only continue getting better, as I don't feel like I'm doing anything incredibly special, just playing consistent all-around volleyball. With any luck this is only the beginning!
I need to do homework, but I have other thoughts I'll try to post later. We're 12-1, with a big 2 weeks ahead of us, starting with New Haven tomorrow, as well as matches versus Harvard/Elms/Emmanuel/Rivier. Looking forward to it!
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