By Ed Morrone
Even though she was just named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) volleyball Player of the Week, don’t try to convince Tessa Sphar that she’s more important than everyone else on the team.
Sphar combined for 40 kills and 26 digs this past weekend in leading the Pride to two more conference victories over James Madison University (JMU) and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), boosting the Pride’s overall record to an impressive 13-6. The Pride has now won nine of its last 10 matches and four straight conference matches after dropping the CAA opener to Delaware.
“We’ve been practicing really hard on speeding up our offense and our passing has gotten pretty consistent,” the 5-foot-11 junior from San Jose said. “All of the practice and hard work is really paying off.”
Sphar leads the Pride in kills with 252 and is fourth in the conference in that category, averaging 3.65 per game. She tallied 20 kills and 11 digs at JMU (a 3-1 win) on Friday and another 20 kills and 15 kills at VCU (also a 3-1 win) on Saturday en route to her seventh and eighth double-doubles of the year and her first Player of the Week honor. But above all of these gaudy statistics and accolades, Sphar’s modesty is her most impressive quality.
“I was really excited [to win the award] since it was the first time its ever happened to me,” Sphar said, with a bag of ice attached to each of her ankles. “But I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and without everyone contributing on the court. This is a team game. Everyone has to work in order to get it done.”
The Pride has been on a roll lately, having only lost one match since Sept. 13. The 13 wins it has achieved just over five weeks into the season matches the team’s entire win total from last season when it finished 13-17. However, the streaking Pride will certainly be put to the test this Friday, when it hosts the Tigers of Towson University. Towson was a unanimous pick in the preseason coaches’ poll to repeat as regular season champions of the CAA. It has done its part so far, jumping out to a 14-6 record, including an undefeated 5-0 in conference play.
“Towson is a great team,” Pride coach Fran Kalafer said. “We expect a real war when we play them, and I hope that we play real well. Their personnel is outstanding and the coach has done a great job of recruiting. But we’re just trying to take care of what’s going on on our side of the court and hopefully we’ll give them a real run for their money.”
“We’re all really excited to play this next match,” Sphar added. “We’re preparing on both ends and continuing to work really hard on the court.”
The Pride will have one advantage on its side against Towson, though. The match will be played at the Pride’s home court at the Physical Fitness Center, where it is an undefeated 7-0 this season. But don’t expect that streak to scare the Tigers, as they have won 21 consecutive regular season conference matches.
In addition to Sphar’s outstanding play this past weekend, the Pride got its usual contributions from other players. Freshman Shellane Ogoshi combined for 107 assists and 27 digs and the team got strong performances from sophomore Catherine Durakis (a career-high 24 digs against VCU), and seniors Julie Tatar (a career-high 18 digs and 14 kills v. VCU), and Nicole Smith (nine kills and a .353 hitting percentage against JMU).
Last season, the Pride was able to upset Towson in the CAA championship tournament before losing to George Mason in the finals. If it wants to get back to that game this year, it will need to keep getting strong performances from everybody on the team.
“This is a really special group,” Kalafer said. “They take care of each other and they enjoy each other’s company. They are a talented group of athletes. They have fun on the court and I think as long as we can keep doing that then we have a great chance of winning our matches.”
Sophomore Catherine Durakis makes a nice dig in the Pride´s win over Virginia Commonwealth University last Saturday. (Photo Courtesy Athletic Dept.)