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Printer-Friendly ModeVolleyball team drops three straight
September 19, 2005 —
After a fast start, the SVSU volleyball team has dropped three straight matches to open the GLIAC season.
This past weekend the Cardinals lost home games 3-0 against both Grand Valley State University on Friday and Ferris State University on Saturday, dropping their record to 6-10 overall and 0-3 in the GLIAC.
The Lakers were dominant against the Cardinals, winning 30-16, 30-14, and 30-17. SVSU played the Bulldogs closer, losing 30-25, 30-24 and 30-22.
Freshman Sarah Redoute led SVSU with eight kills against GVSU, while sophomore Amy Howard added 24 assists and six digs. Freshman Carmen Schacher led SVSU with 12 digs against the rival Lakers.
Against Ferris, sophomore Danielle Dryer led the team with 11 kills and hit .318 for the match, and junior Aimee Bamberg added nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage.
The Cardinals now have to go on a road trip for the next five games. They first travel up north this weekend to take on Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan, and Michigan Tech.
The six wins for the team is already three times as many wins as last year's squad had. Having played 16 games this season, head coach Will Stanton is excited about the outcome his team has displayed. "In the 2004 season, we were playing with four to five freshman starters," he said. "They were a strong athletic group, but that lack of experience caught up with us in many matches. That group got some great experience and has returned this year as sophomores with a full year of starting and working together under their belt."
Stanton has added several other newcomers to the experienced sophomores.
"We also added a few strong new freshmen and junior transfers that are contributing," he said. "It all adds up to more depth and more experience, and that means we are able to handle the pressures of one of the toughest volleyball conferences in the country."
On Tuesday, the Cardinals opened up conference play and unveiled the newly renovated Cardinal Gym against Northwood University. The Cards dropped each of the three games, 30-24, 30-20, and 30-22.
"We were able to compete with them in 90 percent of each game, but were unable to close out games when we had the opportunities," Stanton said.
The Cards had two more total kills than Northwood (42-40), but were hurt by 19 service errors with only two service aces. Howard led SVSU in assists with 37.
"We were trying to serve very aggressive and committed too many serving errors, and that hurt us at some critical times," Stanton said. "Our offense was on and we were more successful at the net than we anticipated, but were not able to back it up with enough defense and serving."
Stanton was able to sum up what seems to be the key for the Cardinals so far in the GLIAC.
"Overall we played well," he said, "but struggled in a few key areas. That was the difference."