Published: October 21, 2008 08:29 am         

Saints JV tops Cougars

CLINTON — As the college season — the first for most of his players — wears on, Clinton Community College volleyball coach Joe Shovlain is concerned that his players are wearing out mentally.

“That’s about as disappointing as it gets,” Shovlain said after the Cougars won the opening game 25-22 only to drop the next three 25-21, 26-24, 25-14 to Ashford University’s junior varsity volleyball team Monday night at Yourd Gymnasium. “Mentally, since our trip to Southwestern (last Tuesday), we have seemed drained. For a lot of these girls this is the first time playing college volleyball. It’s a long season, and we still have a minimum of nine matches left. It’s a real change from high school, and they don’t have that support network of family and friends.”

It’s been a long season for Ashford, too, but only a few of the Saints who saw floor time Tuesday have played in more than 50 varsity games this season.

“We love to play whenever we get the chance,” said Ashford’s Alisha Parker, a junior from Camanche who has played in 71 varsity contests this fall. “We gain confidence and definitely come together as a team. This helps improve our skills so we can help at practice.”

It also gave the Saints a chance to work on certain aspects of their games.

“I never played middle before, so blocking is a weakness,” said freshman Kendra King of Morrison, who led Ashford with 11 kills and five aces. “It’s also a chance to work on serving more. I try to be more consistent, put in the ball in play and have a hard serve.”

King and Parker, who had 10 kills and four blocks for the Saints, helped turn things around midway through Game 2.

“We changed our attitude a bit because we did not want to lose,” King said.

One of King’s kills came in a 6-1 run in Game 2 that vaulted the Saints in front 21-16.

The two teams waged another close battle in Game 3, which featured 15 ties and 15 lead changes.

Ashley O’Neill (36 assists) set up former Prince of Peace athlete Tori Isenhour (13 kills) for back-to-back kills that put the Cougars ahead 19-18. They still held that lead at 23-21 before Ashford rallied. Parker and Tara VanZuiden, a sophomore from Albany, Ill., combined on a block that cut the gap to 23-22, then a second-hit kill by setter Kayla Fussner tied it. After Hannah Seibel and King traded kills to make it 24-24, Ashford scored the final two points, the first coming on a controversial call on a kill attempt by Seibel.

“Whoever won Game 3 was going to win the match,” Shovlain said.

Losing the game deflated the Cougars.

Ashford opened Game 4 with an ace serve from Fussner, then scored four consecutive points on Clinton hitting errors, two of which Parker had a hand in blocking. Clinton never got closer than three points, the final time at 17-14 on a four-point run that included a combined block by former Northeast player Amber Lorenzen and Jenni Bader, a kill by Stephany Harris, an ace serve by Bader and a free-ball kill by Lorenzen.

But, Ashford regrouped with a timeout, and then finished off the Cougars.

“We had played hard the whole match and just wanted to finish it,” Parker said.

Parker had kills on three of the next four points, and the Saints closed out the win with an 8-0 run, getting aces from Rebecca Soesbe for the 23rd and 25th points.

“We’re not going to finish the season this way,” Shovlain vowed. “We’re going to start taking the first five or 10 minutes of practice to cleanse our minds with mental exercises. I think that’s what cost our last two games.”



Ashford 22-25-26-25, Clinton 25-21-24-14

Statistical leaders

ASHFORD JV: Kills — Kendra King 11, Alsiha Parker 10, Tara VanZuiden 9. Blocks — Parker 5, VanZuiden 3. Assists — Kayla Fussner 25. Ace serves — King 5, Rebecca Soesbe 4, Fussner 3.

CLINTON CC: Kills — Stephany Harris 14, Tori Isenhour 13, Hannah Seibel 9. Blocks — Amber Lorenzen 6, Isenhour 3, Ashley O’Neill 3. Assists — O’Neill 36. Ace serves — Isenhour 3, Jenni Bader 2.

     

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.