Volleyball 1-11 coach ditches team for a practice

The women's volleyball team and Coach Suzanne Garland are speaking again. Following a disappointing match against Ohio Northern University on Wednesday, the coach decided not to attend practice on Thursday. The team had better luck at the Great Lakes Conference Association (GLCA) tournament last weekend as they played the College of Wooster and Kenyon College.

On Friday the Yeowomen lost their first two games to Wooster 12-15 and 10-15 before rallying back to take the next two 15-9 and 15-7. They then lost after being up 9-4 in the rally game. "We need to learn how to finish and keep the pressure on," Garland said.

Saturday saw the team lose their first game to Kenyon 6-15 before they slugged out the second in an exhilarating 19-17 struggle. Kenyon then took the match, winning the final two games 5-15 and 7-15. "We just need to learn how to keep up a constant level of energy and intensity throughout the match," Garland said.

"We were very motivated," sophomore Mie Anton said. "We lost but we played very well."

Then on Wednesday the Yeowomen lost to fourth nationally ranked Ohio Northern 3-15, 1-15, 1-15. The first three points of the first game were well-earned and all scored at the beginning of the game. The rest of the game, and the whole of the two to come, were not nearly as pretty to watch. A parade of unforced errors, unlucky calls and unconfident defense made for an unpleasant and seemingly unending match.

"We were just not executing what we practiced," Garland said. "It comes down to us continually striving to learn how to operate as one unit and not six individuals."

"We were frustrated and we did not lose in a good way," Anton said.

"I believe any team can get beaten on any given day, whether they're first in the country or whether they're 357th in the country," Garland said. "We have the skill to beat any one of them. It's a matter of communication, effort and desire. I'm very disappointed in the way we played."

Ohio Northern was late and so had to rush through their warm-ups, which should have given the Yeowomen an advantage. "We had a tremendous psychological advantage in that they only had twenty minutes to warm up and we needed to be all over that," Garland said. "This week's practice will be important to test and see if the team can find a way to win or remain content to stay at the same level."

It was the next day that the team arrived at practice to find out they were coachless for the day. "It was disorienting," setter senior Cerissa Tanner said. "But it was better as people took on responsibilities that they don't normally carry as much. Everybody was really vocal, even people who normally aren't."

"We saw what we needed to do and we talked a lot," Anton said. "Everyone was into it. It was a good practice. Hopefully [today's] practice will be good so we can do well on Saturday."

Saturday the team plays Carlow College and Muskingum College at home. The Yeowomen seem to be more confident following their shake-up this week. "We seem to be getting better with time," Tanner said. "When we're high we're really high."