Volleyball faces national powers
Campus Times
September 26, 1997
With several key Division III foes in front of them, the University
of La Verne women's volleyball team fell to national powerhouses last weekend
at the Washington University National Invitational.
The women faced some of the best teams in the country in their division,
not to mention the NAIA preseason, including the current No. 1 in NAIA Division
I, Brigham Young-Hawaii (BYU).
The Leopards also faced Washington University, the current No. 1 ranked
team in Division III, and St. Olaf the No. 4 team in Division III.
"You need to play those good teams because those are the games
that will make you better," said head coach Jim Paschal of the tournament.
La Verne finished the tournament with a 0-4 record and a last place
finish.
"If you look at it, it looks bad, but we played well against nationally
ranked teams," said junior outside hitter Lynsey Best. "We were
taking games off of teams, like Washington, that last year we lost to in
three."
The Leopards first matched up against St. Olaf. Even with Best's eight
kills, 15 digs, freshman outside hitter Amy Brummel's eight kills, 16 digs,
and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Henry's eight kills, it was not enough
to deter St. Olaf's offense and 15-6, 12-15, 15-6, 15-4, victory over La
Verne.
"We played with them, but they ran a very fast offense and complex
offense," Paschal said.
The next match La Verne played was against BYU-Hawaii. This match was
important for La Verne because Paschal said he switched the lineup, which
is uncharacteristic of his coaching style. The major changes moved senior
outside hitter Jill Seaton to the right side and moved Henry from the right
side to the middle opening, a spot on the outside for Brummel to fill.
"We need our best defensive players and passers on the floor at
all times and this [change] will work for us [and] will improve our attack
in the middle a great deal," said Paschal. "Sarah did a superior
job freezing the middle in the BYU match."
Even with the changes, BYU-Hawaii still beat La Verne with ease, 15-0,
15-3, 15-5. The Seasiders went on to win the tournament and held all teams
to no more than six points.
"It helps our passing and quickens our offense by giving us more
options," Seaton said of the line-up change.
"I think it is a positive change. It is unfortunate that there
was no practice, but I think it will prove to be a strong lineup,"
said Best.
Henry said, "It will help the the team by putting our three best
passers on the floor and I definitely like playing the right back defense
better, [but] I felt a little bit uncomfortable and awkward due to the lack
of practice."
The losses did not get the Leopards down, as they came back the next
day to face Washington University in a physical and emotional battle.
After losing the first game, 15-8, La Verne bounced back and pummeled
Washington, 15-5, in the second game.
Paschal said, "I think it was the best we played yet."
After the score in the third game was tied, 13-13, ULV missed a serve
and eventually lost, 15-13. Senior setter Mercury Simonian had 37 assists
and 11 digs, while Henry contributed 14 kills, four service aces and three
solo blocks. Seaton added nine kills and six digs, and sophomore middle
blocker Allison Moore's seven kills, four service aces and three solo blocks
could not help ULV, which lost the final game, 15-12.
ULV faced Chapman in its last match of the tournament, but after the
exhausting match against Washington, the Leopards ran out of gas. La Verne
let Chapman walk away with a 15-8, 15-5, 15-12 victory.
"We definitely should have won, and we were let down physically
and mentally," Moore said.
Henry added, "We fell apart and we were all tired. They just hit
us while we were down."
Even with a disappointing showing, the team had nothing but good feelings
about its performance as a team.
"Considering the level of teams we played against, we picked it
up and played well," said Seaton.
In its second regular season match, La Verne took on the No. 5 team
in Division III, UC San Diego, Tuesday. The Tritons defeated the Leopards
15-5, 15-13, 15-6.
