By By Olson Barthelemy
Momentum is a term usually relegated to the pages of physics books, but in the realm of sports, it is a valuable yet fleeting commodity. When attained, it can change the fortunes of a team for the better or slip away in the blink of an eye.
The Pride volleyball team did a terrific job at creating momentum, by winning four straight matches after its loss to William & Mary on Sept. 24. The team carried that momentum into Virginia for a two-game road trip against conference opponents in James Madison University (JMU) and the Patriots of George Mason University (GMU).
Perhaps cognizant of the short-lived nature of momentum, the Pride managed to take advantage of its hot streak and beat both JMU (22-30, 30-22, 30-28 and 33-31) and GMU (30-24, 30-25, 19-30, 30-14) in four games.
Necessity would be just as good an adjective as momentum to describe the Pride’s recent play. As head coach Fran Kalafer put it, “The conference race is very close.”
With the Pride in a virtual tie with Towson University atop the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings, the Pride has had no choice but to win to remain in the hunt for the conference crown.
With this mixture of need and motivation and the extra incentive of extending a four-match win streak, the Pride (11-6, 8-1 CAA) traveled to Harrisonburg, Va., to face off against the Dukes (10-7, 4-5). When these two teams last met on Sept. 11, the match went the full five games, with the Pride eventually coming out on top. The five-game thriller was the only match the Pride played all season in conference to go the distance.
With the prospect of facing a tough James Madison team again, the Pride made sure to come prepared.
“Due to the high powered offense and attack of James Madison, we worked hard on team defense and preparing for what we thought we would face on the court,” Kalafer explained.
As this was the case, the Pride couldn’t have been surprised at the quick start the Dukes displayed. In dropping the first game to JMU, 30-22, the Pride had 10 kills to 18 of the Dukes, while it was also held to a horrid .054 hitting percentage compared to the solid .293 percentage of JMU.
Despite the slow start, the Pride managed to take the next three games, 30-22, 30-28, and 33-31, to take the match. The Pride came out strong in the relatively easy second game and led from start to finish.
The Pride also was able to elevate its hitting percentage to a more respectable .259, while turning the tables on the Dukes and holding them to the same .054 hitting percentage, which the Pride had coped with in the first game. Tied at one, the final two games were hotly contested and were won with two point margins, as opposed to the eight-point cushions characteristic of the first two games.
“The games were tight this weekend. Rather than freezing and playing it easy we fought back harder and more aggressively,” Pride junior middle blocker Elizabeth Curley said. “We attacked the ball at these clutch moments instead of just free-balling it right back to them.”
JMU continued to produce more kills than the Pride, with 19 to the Pride’s 14, but it also continued to hurt its own cause with costly service errors.
“We took extreme advantage of James Madison’s service errors and just ran with it,” senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Jessica Levy said.
The Dukes compiled an alarming 17 service errors compared to a mere six by the Pride. In the final two games that featured 16 and 19 lead changes, respectively, errors on serves ended up being one of the deciding factors. Offensively, Talita Silva’s 16 kills led a trio of two other players (Tessa Sphar with 12 and Beverly Rivera with 10) with double-digit kills.
Sophomore setter Shellane Ogoshi helped with 47 assists, Amanda Beyersdorff was the only member of the Pride to hit over .300 with a .353 hitting percentage. Defensively, Catherine Durakis and Shellane Ogoshi had 15 and 14 digs, respectively.
Leading the way for the Dukes was Ashley Copenhaver with 15 kills and Krysta Cannon with a match-high 58 assists. With its win against James Madison, the Pride held onto momentum and found itself with a five-game winning streak heading into Fairfax for its match against George Mason.
The Pride utilized momentum once again to manage a win against GMU and improved to 13-6 and 10-1 in the CAA. The team now is in sole possession of first place in the CAA.
The Blue and Gold now heads home for two matches against Georgia State University and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, both of whom the Pride played on the road in September.