Volleyball Conquers Ohio Wesleyn In A Tight Match

Service!: My car doesn't have that much bump. (photo by Brian Hodgkin)

The Oberlin volleyball team ended the North Coast Athletic Conference season this past weekend with losses to Wittenberg and Wooster. On Oct. 11, the Yeowomen also lost to NCAC rival Allegheny. Oberlin's overall record is now 8-15 and the Yeowomen end the NCAC season at 1-7.

The Wednesday before fall break the Yeowomen took the court against the visiting Gators of Allegheny.

The Gators treated the Yeowomen like a piece of raw meat, devouring them in three games 15-2, 15-13, 15-6.

"[Allegheny] came out strong in the first game," said Coach Leeza Ramsey, "They have a talented team and an especially good hitter who was on in this match."

While the Gator offensive game was on, the Oberlin defense was struggling. For a team that prides themselves on defense the numbers put up in this game were low.

As a team Oberlin piled up 31 digs, 22 less than Allegheny. In fact, Oberlin as a team was out dug by three players for the Gators. No one for Oberlin reached double digits in digs, the two closest being juniors, Anna Ruth with eight and Alana Kenmore with 7.

"Our defense was a little shaky against Allegheny," said Ramsey "They hit good shots but not ones we couldn't get to. We just didn't seem to have that extra little push we needed."

Throw in 29 errors offensively and any team is going to find it hard to win.

"Errors hurt us in this match. If you can't get the ball in play you can't expect to score," said Ramsey.a

Though Oberlin had a lot of errors they still managed 34 kills as a team and were able to keep right with Allegheny who tallied 36.

Ruth led the Yeowomen with 10 kills followed by Kenmore with 8 and first-year Adrienne Zoller with 7.

"[Zoller] really played well against Allegheny. Her kills were up and errors down," Ramsey said. "After the first game I told her and Eden [Trenor, first year] they needed to step up in the middle. Allegheny was doubling up on the outside and Anna and Alana couldn't do anything. Both of them did and that was the major difference in the other two matches."

First-year Darci Leonhart turned in a solid performance at setter, racking up 29 assists in the match.

With the win, Allegheny's record moved to 3-2 in the NCAC and 11-15 overall.

After a week with no matches and time to work on a few things the Yeowomen hit the floor this past weekend for the final two NCAC matches of the season.

In the first match of the day, Oberlin took on NCAC powerhouse Wittenberg. The Tigers looked to continue the trend demolishing conference opponents in three games. In fact, only one NCAC team had taken Wittenberg to four games in a match this season.

"We had a game plan going into the Wittenberg match," said sophomore Mariana Padias "We wanted to come in and play aggressive, not be scared because they were ranked 13th in the nation."

The upbeat game plan was not enough as the Yeowomen fell like the rest in three games, 15-3, 15-3, 15-6.

The second match was an important one for the Yeowomen.

A win against Wooster meant a chance at playing in the conference tournament.

While Oberlin was hoping to extend their season with a win, Wooster was looking for redemption. Earlier in the season the Yeowomen beat Wooster in the championship game of the Country Hearth Invitational played at Oberlin.

"This is a match that we really wanted to win. Carrie [Carter, senior] and Sarah [Breon, senior] stepped up and played awesome," said Padias. "We just came up a little bit short."

The Fighting Scots scrapped their way to victory and redemption beating Oberlin in four games, 15-10, 12-15, 15-4 and 15-7.

The keys that led the Yeowomen to victory the first time against Wooster seemed non-existent this time. "We won against Wooster earlier in the season because we served, passed and played defense well," Ramsey said. "Those keys weren't present this time."