It was smooth sailing for the Lady Wolfpack during their home opener against Belhaven Univeristy — until they got to the third set.
They, however, were able to come out on top, 3-2.
This match marked the first of a 10 game home stand for the Lady Wolfpack, who are 6-4 over all and undefeated in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, 2-0.
They went up against Belhaven, who are 8-8, with this match being their first against a GCAC opponent.
The freshmen took the court for the first time in their collegiate careers in front of their home crowd, something that contributed to jitters.
“I was nervous. I probably made more errors than I usually do, but it was ok. It was really exciting to play with our team on our home court,” Ashley Abendschein, music business freshmen, said.
Abendschein added she gained comfort as the game progressed allowing her to relax, which allowed her to play better.
Their performance on the court did not reveal that as they took a quick 2-0 lead. They then dropped two sets in a row, tying the match at two.
“I think we’re a little quick to get out of our system,” Tommy Harold, head volleyball coach, said.
“When things don’t go so well, we’re still not as composed as we need to be and we need to learn that a couple of points here and there are not going to be the end of the match.”
One thing Harold said his team needed to work on was developing mental toughness. He however, said that it is something that develops over time with more experience.
“We have to learn how to relax and trust what we’re doing a little more. We hit panic mode a little bit tonight, in the third and fourth game, we started to do things we don’t do,” Harold said.
In order to improve in this area, Harold plans on giving his new players more playing time so they develop confidence on the court.
“The trick is to get the freshmen to play the whole match, as well as our sophomores to close out a match,” he said.
The other part of the equation is developing trust in the system and each other.
“If we stay in system and trust what we’re doing a little more, like we did in the first two games, we’ll be in great shape,” he said.
Players like Amanda Oldani, marketing sophomore, and Gina Gill, psychology sophomore, have taken a step forward as vocal leaders on the court. Gill said they were able to come back and win because they were able to keep their heads up.
“We lost a little bit of focus and they had more momentum, but for us it was just stay composed and push through the match and get the win which is the most important thing,” Gill said.
Harold is confident his team will be successful this season.
“We’re serving tough, which is great. It takes the other team out of their system,” he said.
“But, we’ve got to eliminate some of the errors, especially the back to back errors on the service line.”
Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected]
