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Volleyball
team hopes to avenge loss
By Jay Armstrong
Skiff Staff
The
volleyball team is to continue the first half of its
conference schedule with a match Friday at Houston.
Even
though the Frogs were swept by the Cougars less then
a month ago, assistant coach Jason Tanaka says the Frogs
are a completely different team this time around.
“Our
team has grown and our confidence is a lot better than
the first time. We’re making some adjustments against
Houston,” Tanaka said. “Our freshman have
gained experience and learned to deal with pressure.
They know how to deal with the excitement.”
Players
say they want to use their growing chemistry down the
stretch to advance to postseason play for the first
time in the program’s history.
“The
team is more and more excited. Even though the first
(three conference games) didn’t turn out like we’d
hoped, the Memphis win has re-energized us,” freshman
middle blocker Erin Estep said. “We’re ready
to go to Houston.”
The
Frogs, (9-11, 1-3 C-USA), can control their own destiny
with a win this weekend. The top 12 out of the C-USA’s
14 teams advance to the tournament.
For
the Frogs to win this weekend, however, they must contain
Houston’s star middle hitter Jenny Tanneberger,
who shared C-USA player of the week honors this past
weekend. The University of Texas transfer had 41 kills
in a match against Saint Louis last Friday, tying the
C-USA record.
The
Cougars are also led by senior Donna Sellen, who leads
the team with 11.27 assists a game, and sophomore Maria
Vasconcellos, who paces the team in digs with 2.93 a
game.
While
the Frogs are split on whether the Houston game serves
as a revenge match, they do agree that the fear factor
is gone.
“We
(the freshmen) didn’t know anything about them,”
freshman outside hitter Carissa Mills said. “We
have gotten the nervousness out of our system. We don’t
have to be scared and because we lost, they’ll
be confident. We have to go out, play hard and have
fun. Being the underdog gives us more fuel for the fire.”
However,
Estep says she’s out for revenge.
“Yes,
it kind of is a revenge match,” Estep said. “I
feel when we lose to a team, they need to be beat the
next time. It’s our turn to win.’”
After
the Frogs match with Houston, they return home next
weekend, to face Alabama-Birmingham and conference leader
South Florida.
Jay
Armstrong
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