Volleyball still winless at 0-9
Colonels fail to net their first win at the Hampton Inn Invitational
Keith Ritchie
Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: Sports
When the Eastern women's volleyball team goes into conference play on Friday, they will do so winless. The Colonels (0-9) concluded non-conference play at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Athens, Ohio on Saturday.
The tournament also featured Indiana, Ohio and Missouri State.
Head coach Lori Duncan said it was the toughest competition of the non-conference schedule, and that reflected in the Colonels' game play - they didn't win a single set in the tournament.
Eastern was swept by Missouri State on Friday. Eastern lost two of the sets by a margin of two points a piece. The individual game scores were 25-23, 25-17 and 28-26.
The Colonels committed 18 errors in the match, compared to Missouri State's nine.
"We weren't ready from the get go," Duncan said. "I did see improvements in certain spots, though. The scores were close, but we have to be able to close it out."
Duncan said the team is now battling more in long rallies, which is a sign of better conditioning.
Abby O'Connor led the Colonels on Friday with 12 digs. Lindsey Loescher and Lauren Snyder both contributed 11 kills. Kate Hendle had 30 assists.
Eastern lost to Indiana and Ohio on Saturday. Indiana won 3-0 with set scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-22.
In the third set, Eastern committed nine errors and hit a dismal .086 hitting-percentage.
Loescher put up 8 digs and 10 kills. Snyder and Autumn Harris also had 10 kills a piece. Hanna Groudle hit .471 with 9 kills.
Ohio swept Eastern later in the day. Ohio took control early, winning the first set 25-13. The other game scores were 25-17 and 25-20.
Mistakes kept the Colonels out of the match, committing 25 errors versus Ohio's 11.
Ohio's Ellen Herman put up 15 kills and 6 digs against Eastern.
With no wins in the first nine matches and only one individual set win, Duncan says she is concerned about the team's confidence going into conference play.
"What happened in the first nine games is behind us," Duncan said. "We have to take everything that was positive with us and leave the negative behind."
Duncan said there are other teams in the conference with records similar to Eastern, but they didn't play against the same level of competition.
"If teams in our conference judge us by our record, we'll surprise them," Duncan said.
"I think we are one of the best teams in the conference," she added. "Have we proved it? No."
Eastern will get a chance to prove it at Tennessee-Martin (5-3) Friday at 8 p.m.
The tournament also featured Indiana, Ohio and Missouri State.
Head coach Lori Duncan said it was the toughest competition of the non-conference schedule, and that reflected in the Colonels' game play - they didn't win a single set in the tournament.
Eastern was swept by Missouri State on Friday. Eastern lost two of the sets by a margin of two points a piece. The individual game scores were 25-23, 25-17 and 28-26.
The Colonels committed 18 errors in the match, compared to Missouri State's nine.
"We weren't ready from the get go," Duncan said. "I did see improvements in certain spots, though. The scores were close, but we have to be able to close it out."
Duncan said the team is now battling more in long rallies, which is a sign of better conditioning.
Abby O'Connor led the Colonels on Friday with 12 digs. Lindsey Loescher and Lauren Snyder both contributed 11 kills. Kate Hendle had 30 assists.
Eastern lost to Indiana and Ohio on Saturday. Indiana won 3-0 with set scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-22.
In the third set, Eastern committed nine errors and hit a dismal .086 hitting-percentage.
Loescher put up 8 digs and 10 kills. Snyder and Autumn Harris also had 10 kills a piece. Hanna Groudle hit .471 with 9 kills.
Ohio swept Eastern later in the day. Ohio took control early, winning the first set 25-13. The other game scores were 25-17 and 25-20.
Mistakes kept the Colonels out of the match, committing 25 errors versus Ohio's 11.
Ohio's Ellen Herman put up 15 kills and 6 digs against Eastern.
With no wins in the first nine matches and only one individual set win, Duncan says she is concerned about the team's confidence going into conference play.
"What happened in the first nine games is behind us," Duncan said. "We have to take everything that was positive with us and leave the negative behind."
Duncan said there are other teams in the conference with records similar to Eastern, but they didn't play against the same level of competition.
"If teams in our conference judge us by our record, we'll surprise them," Duncan said.
"I think we are one of the best teams in the conference," she added. "Have we proved it? No."
Eastern will get a chance to prove it at Tennessee-Martin (5-3) Friday at 8 p.m.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jonathan
posted 9/17/09 @ 2:36 PM EST
The 0-9 start is the worst start in the program's history.
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