Volleyball team nets season's first two wins
Sam House
Issue date: 9/19/03 Section: Sports
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After its first two wins of the season, the Hendrix volleyball team dropped three straight sets in a loss to the Division II Ouachita Baptist University Tigers. The Tigers (3-7) have yet to lose at home this season.
The game against Ouachita marked the return of fifth-year senior Danielle Baker, who had a match high ten kills.
Baker had been embroiled in a struggle to gain her fifth year of eligibility.
Freshman Natalie Aaron led the Warriors (2-7) with eight kills, while freshman Nicole Mayerle had 12 assists and Baker added 11. Aaron also had four aces. Unfortunately, sophomore M. C. Ferguson went down with a sprained right knee.
Coach Mary Ann Schlientz was also unhappy with the development. "It's really serious for us because she and [junior Lauren Stanlee] have been playing our middle hitter blockers, and we really don't have a back up in the middle, so that's pretty devastating," Schlientz said.
The loss to the Tigers and the injury were a sad end to a two-game winning streak Hendrix began on Friday. They played a double-header against Rust College and Philander Smith College. The Warriors took each match in straight sets, and never gave either opposing squad a chance.
When asked about the changes made before the two wins, coach Mary Ann Schlientz explained that she didn't necessarily think the team made adjustments.
"I think we tried to emphasize staying very focused on what we're doing out there," Schlientz said. "Obviously our passing is really important, so we focused on trying to get those passes to target, and executing our plays and putting the ball down. We just fine-tuned what we've been doing up to this point."
Nick Coffin, assistant coach and junior, had his own explanation for the team's slow start.
"We lack team coherence," Coffin said. "We have a lot of good individual players, but we just haven't gelled yet."
Gelled or not, the Warriors managed to get things done the last two games.
The game against Ouachita marked the return of fifth-year senior Danielle Baker, who had a match high ten kills.
Baker had been embroiled in a struggle to gain her fifth year of eligibility.
Freshman Natalie Aaron led the Warriors (2-7) with eight kills, while freshman Nicole Mayerle had 12 assists and Baker added 11. Aaron also had four aces. Unfortunately, sophomore M. C. Ferguson went down with a sprained right knee.
Coach Mary Ann Schlientz was also unhappy with the development. "It's really serious for us because she and [junior Lauren Stanlee] have been playing our middle hitter blockers, and we really don't have a back up in the middle, so that's pretty devastating," Schlientz said.
The loss to the Tigers and the injury were a sad end to a two-game winning streak Hendrix began on Friday. They played a double-header against Rust College and Philander Smith College. The Warriors took each match in straight sets, and never gave either opposing squad a chance.
When asked about the changes made before the two wins, coach Mary Ann Schlientz explained that she didn't necessarily think the team made adjustments.
"I think we tried to emphasize staying very focused on what we're doing out there," Schlientz said. "Obviously our passing is really important, so we focused on trying to get those passes to target, and executing our plays and putting the ball down. We just fine-tuned what we've been doing up to this point."
Nick Coffin, assistant coach and junior, had his own explanation for the team's slow start.
"We lack team coherence," Coffin said. "We have a lot of good individual players, but we just haven't gelled yet."
Gelled or not, the Warriors managed to get things done the last two games.
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