By Olson Barthelemy

There are a few questions related to sports so common, cliché even, that they can be applied to any form of athletics regardless of level, gender, or obscurity. A perfect example is the question that Pride volleyball head coach Lauren Netherby was probably mulling even before her team faced off against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and William & Mary.

But before the question can be asked, it must first be given the proper context. With wins against VCU and William & Mary, on Friday and Saturday respectively, the Pride would clinch a berth in the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships. All this would come with still six games left in the regular season.

So back to our question; if the Pride were to clinch a berth this early in the season, would it be better to rest the starters in anticipation for the tournament and prevent injury or play the starters to keep them fresh. Of course, this Tony Dungy-esque musing would have to wait until the outcome of the two matches this past weekend.

Spectators new to CAA volleyball would be hard pressed to believe the VCU team that took the court at the Physical Fitness Center on Friday against the Pride is the same VCU team that won the CAA tournament on that very court last season. The Rams came into the contest just one game over .500 in conference play and staring up at several other teams above them in the standings.

The Pride’s handling of the Rams was one indicative of two teams going in completely opposite directions. Not only did the Pride defeat VCU in decisive fashion (30-23, 30-21, 23-30, 30-26), but two of their star players achieved milestones in the process. Sophomore setter Shellane Ogoshi reached the 1,000 dig plateau during the third game while senior middle blocker Elizabeth Curley scored her 1,000 career kill in the first. Amanda Beyersdorff and Lauren Engle played important arts in the four game victory contributing 11 and 19 kills respectively.

“They were tough. They’re a tough offensive team, they stuck with us on defense a little bit, but we stayed strong when they started to fall apart,” said Coach Netherby in summing up her squads victory. “That’s what we’ve been working on all year, so that we’re strong in the end of the season as well as the beginning, is really maintaining our composure throughout an entire match. We did that and they lost it a little bit.”

While VCU was able to muster some semblance of resistance against what has turned into a juggernaut Pride team, William & Mary (who came into the contest in even more dire straits than VCU) proved to be the most an opponent could hope for especially in a clinching situation. The Pride beat William & Mary in an effortless three games (30-25, 30-19, 30-19) and in under an hour and a half.

The nearest the Tribe came to posing a threat to the Blue & Gold was in losing by five in the first game. Otherwise there was very little resistance as a balanced Pride team put on quite a show for the Hofstra faithful. Coach Netherby was pleased by her team’s performance remarking that, “I can’t attribute the win to any certain players because everyone played pretty well. Our hitting percentage was very good; as a team we hit .336. Everyone was solid. Every one played well.”

To illustrate just how overriding the Pride’s play was, consider that with her 41 assists, Shellane Ogoshi not only led all players but had more assists than the Tribe as a team (33). The Pride’s .336 hitting percentage was more than twice that of the Tribe’s .115. Leading the Pride offensively were Elizabeth Curley, Lauren Engle and Amanda Beyersdorff with 12, 12, and 11 kills respectively.

While, with a CAA Tournament berth clinched, some might think it would be advisable to take the remaining six games easier, Netherby is banking on momentum rather than rest, “The more and more we can have everyone on at the same time the quicker we our matches will be. If we have one person off we struggle a little bit, but if everyone is one fire we’re a pretty tough offense to stop”

The Pride’s tough offense will go on its second to last road trip this weekend as they face Delaware.