Volleball Comes Back After an Upsetting Loss to SOU

Last Tuesday the Oregon Tech Volleyball team was swept by SOU. It was a frustrating and disappointing match to watch. It is important to keep in mind that I know very little about volleyball. I have never played and have only just begun to watch it this year. It is a fun and exciting sport to watch, and at times it gets really intense. This was not the case when we played SOU. I was really excited for the game because during every one of my interviews with the players, they all said they love playing Southern Oregon because they all get extra excited and because it is a really good match-up. I don't know what it was, but the girl's were just not with it.

They seemed to have very little communication with each other, something I have noticed is a 'must-have' on the court. They did not seem to be focused and did not play with high intensity. The usual hitters were not hitting that well and as a team they were not very quick on their feet.

I must say that Southern is a good team, ranked in the nation's top 15 teams, but I really expected a better performance from our girls. The first two games were the worst, losing 30-21 and 30-18. The third game was better, with a little more intensity, but nothing like I've seen them play before.

Today I was glad to see that when the team traveled to Eugene yesterday, they headed back home with a win. The girl's beat Northwest Christian College, losing the first game 22-30, but coming back to win the next three, which were all close matches (30-28, 30-28, 31-29). The team is holding on to a tie for third place in the CCC with Eastern Oregon Univerity, each at 5 losses. The games against NCC were ones I think I would enjoy. They look like they were closely matched and down to the wire. In the end, our team pulled it off, which is something that every fan likes to see.

The only thing that concerns me is that when the girls played NCC for the first round in league (Sept. 28) they swept them with scores of 30-13, 30-19 and 30-19. Either NCC improved and we stayed the same, or we peaked at the wrong time and are headed back down .

We'll find out which it is when the girls play their last conference home games next weekend. They play Condordia University on Friday at 5:30PM and Corban College on Saturday at 5:30PM.