So it has been a little bit longer than I wanted it to be that I wrote but for those of you follow our news stories on the website and my occasional twitter posts (@coachviney) you may have an idea why I have been reluctant to, let's say spread the word about the results from the past 2 weeks.
We came out of the Corn Palace Classic not as confident as a team normally should after going 3-1 over that weekend. The 5 set loss to Dakota State took something out of us. We headed to Presentation College in Aberdeen on the 7th knowing we should be able to take care of business relatively quickly. I think for the most part we did (first 2 sets we only allowed 17 and 12 points) but lost some focus in the 3rd set and let them come back and make that set interesting and forcing us to beat them 27-25. A little hectic but we got the job done. A win is a win!
We had another big trip ahead of us for the weekend. A trip to La Crosse, WI at Viterbo University for a tournament. Our 2 players from Green Bay were so looking forward to this trip. I think I have heard enough reasons why Wisconsin is great - so they think HAHA.
Coming in to the season I knew this was going to be a tournament that had the potential to be difficult. My expectation was 2-2 because of the two potential Top 25 teams we were scheduled to face there (Viterbo & Northwestern). How many of you get that feeling the day before or even the day of a competition and you just don't feel right, like something is missing? I unfortunately had that feeling on the Friday morning of the tournament. I tried to shake it all day and come up with all of these confidence building sayings and thoughts. Well my gut must have been telling me something as we entered in to the first match with Waldorf College (who was winless on the season at that time). They played right before our match and were competing so hard defensively just frustrating their opponent. I knew we were about to have the same match with them. Waldorf came out with the confidence of a team that was undefeated, scrapping for every point and making us have to earn every point. It was taxing on the players. Both teams battled back and forth for the first 4 sets and even through the entire 5th set. We finally made a statement and put our stamp on the match at the (I believe) 12-13 score in the 5th set and us being down. Out of the timeout we had a crossing pattern play drawn out to get a potential matchup for Freshman Danielle Bird to take the biggest swing of the season. In the the timeout, I told her to just put the ball away no matter what. Her response was a thunderous kill that blasted the opposing libero in the gut, I swear the gym was filled with the sounds of Danielle's contact of the ball and the ball's contact of the libero's stomach - it was the momentum play we had searched for all match long. We went on to win 17-15 in the 5th.
Our next 3 matches for the weekend were struggles to say the least. Northwestern played at an unbelievable pace that we weren't ready for and stuck it to us. The next morning we thought we had a great chance to get that second win of the tournament against Hannibal-LaGrange. Our offense was inconsistent and we couldn't put together the runs we normally get and lost each set by 2 or 3 points. Here is the hard pill to swallow - Looking at the stat sheets from both teams we had better attacking numbers and blocking numbers as well as more digs. However, HLG committed 6 less errors than we did throughout the match and therefore earned them the win. We finished the tournament by playing #21 at the time Viterbo. They play at a very high tempo with their offense and their setter is extremely accurate and athletic, the key to the team. We opened up the first set with dismal passing and found ourselves in a big double digit hole. But then we caught a break, during a play their setter got injured and had to leave the match. Informing the team of the big break that was just presented to them about the heart of their team now out for potentially the entire match, we had a chance. Our response was positive for the next 2 sets as we pushed Viterbo to change their offense to set players that don't normally get as many swings. I thought we were going to pull out the 3rd set to force a 4th but as it was the entire weekend our offensive efficiency (ability to score points and not just keep balls in play or give away points) held us back from reaching our goals. We did however, leave the tournament with our heads held high knowing that the ability to play good ball is in us and that we just have to demand and expect more from our individual performances to ignite the team.
Our tournament season is over and now we head into the true purpose for our season - the GPAC conference season. Our overall youth has been a slight reason for our ups and downs but we now have to get through the adversity we create and fight our way to the top. The matches we have played are a big part of the experience we need to compete in this great conference. We must now look forward to achieve our goal of finishing in the top 8 of the conference and make it into the conference tournament. The near future is bright this group of women, it is our time to show that youth is not a negative thing when it comes to competition.
- Coach V
September 12, 2011
September 5, 2011
Corn Palace Classic Weekend
That was one extremely busy weekend. 6 college teams and 4 HS teams played 14 matches over the Labor Day weekend here in Mitchell. There was great volleyball played by every team that stepped foot on the court at the World's Only Corn Palace. Check out the stats from all of the college matches on our web page specific for the tournament. Congrats to Ethan HS and Mitchell HS for winning their matches on Saturday. They were fun to watch.
Before we go any further I have to give a HUGE THANK YOU to our JV team and other volunteers for operating the scores table, line judging, and ball shagging all weekend. All of you did a fantastic job and worked extremely long hours. I hope the payment of free food all weekend was sufficient.
Looking back at our weekend we finished 3-1, which is a very positive weekend. However, losing your very last match of a tournament against a rival will always leave a sour taste in your mouth. We opened the weekend on Friday playing Dickinson State. They had recently added 2 players that weren't playing the weeks before from suspension and were 2 very athletic OH's. We weren't sure how much they would change their team but after watching them jump out to a commanding 2 set to 0 lead on York in their first match of the tournament it was clear they were very different then what we saw the weekend before when they were out in Montana. They did end up losing some steam and lost in 5 to York but we still saw them as a dangerous team. We came out extremely focused on our game plan to take the line away from one of those hitters and cross court against the other. The execution of our blocking and then the addition of very solid ball control to keep us in system allowed us to dominate play in a 3 set victory, 25-18, 25-14, 25-15. We hit .370 in the match with only 1 attacker having more than 1 attacking error while also averaging 16 digs a set. It was a great overall match both offensively and defensively. It was an exceptional start to the weekend. We got great balanced performances from Larissa Veldhuizen and Danielle Bird while Kacie Sanderson and TyAnn Buddenhagen were extremely efficient attacking the ball with .417 and .556 hitting %'s. Katie Lindow also came in off the bench as a serving specialist to provide an ace and 3 digs.
We finished Friday night with our match against York College. In the previous few years York had always been a team that you could get school records against because of their level of play. Well not anymore, after seeing them come back from 0-2 to win 3-2 against Dickinson, it was very clear they were a team that had some talent, skill and were well coached. Kudos to Coach Fear for really getting things turned around there at York. This match was competitive the entire time. We could not put them away in any set early to give us that breathing space we like to have to close out sets. We took the first 2 sets (25-22 & 25-20 respectively and then York pushed us to the limit to take the 3rd set 25-23. We had to battle hard again in the 4th to finally close out the match 25-21. We did a great job in the serve & serve receive game with 11 aces and only 2 reception errors. We did well at the net with 11 total blocks and 49 kills. Larissa Veldhuizen was the go to player as she recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs. Katie Lindow again provided some offense with 6 service aces in her serving specialist role. While Sam Sandua continued her consistency for the season with a .238 hitting % and adding 8 kills. And Rachel Tinklenberg hit .300 with 9 kills and added 5 block assists. Tyann Buddenhagen and Briana Jung both provided quality setting and great defense as both were above 15 digs each in the match.
We opened Saturday against Valley City State. This has turned into a big rivalry match over the past 3 seasons. Heading into this match the 2 teams had played 4 times since 2009 with every match going 5 sets. We had a 3-1 record vs. VCSU heading into the match this weekend. It may have also grown into more of a rivalry since the head coach there is my wife's best friend and college teammate. It was a tight match the entire, trading the first 3 sets with us up 2-1 and barely pulling out the 3rd set. We managed to figure out some things with our offensive efficiency for the 4th set to stop the 5 set match streak at 4 and beat VCSU in 4 sets. I can honestly say that looking at the statistics without the scores one would guess VCSU won the match. However, our perseverance through the adversity of not playing as well as we did the day before and against an opponent that wanted the win was extremely key to the victory. We got another double-double out of Larissa Veldhuizen with 13 kills and 13 digs. Brooke Warne provided 20 digs in the match to anchor the defense and Sam Sandau again was Miss consistency with 9 kills with a .350 hitting %. It should be another great match when we go to Valley City the first weekend of Oct.
The last match of the weekend had us facing another rival in Dakota State. They had played some strong volleyball throughout the tournament and I knew they would come out ready to play. Both teams battled hard in the first set to a 25-22 DWU victory. Dak State committed a lot of hitting errors in the first set to help us in that set. We knew that trend would not continue as they are a team that likes to tip and throw the ball around after making mistakes. The 2nd and 3rd set Dakota State pushed themselves out to quick 5 and 6 point leads and never looked back as we looked like deer in headlights during those sets as we could only score 13 and 17 in those sets. The execution of the game plan was non-existence and the focus on the 2 hitters that Dak State uses all of the time was poor. It did not look good for us heading into the 4th set. Again we came out flat in the 4th but fortunately not putting ourselves in too big of hole. Dakota State began to make a few more attacking errors to help us stay close. As we approached the final 5 to 6 points in the set something changed in the attitude of how the team was approaching game and our energy level rose as well as our communication. We clawed our way back to a 23-23 tie and found a way to pull out the 4th to set up what would be a very intense 5th set. The first half of the 5th was back and forth as both teams played well to the 8-7 switch with DWU up. But after the switch of court we lost confidence after back to back throw kills to both deep corners from their MH. They were devastating kills that took the wind out of our sail and unfortunately the aggression out of our game (which will never happen again). It was heart breaking and even to today I have a sour taste in my mouth about how it finished. We did get some good quality performances from Brooke Warne with 25 digs and another double-double from Larissa Veldhuizen with 13 kills and 13 digs again. Other double-doubles recorded were by Danielle Bird with 11 kills and 12 digs and Briana Jung with 24 assists and 15 digs.
Again we'll take the 3-1 record and move on with a lot more learning coming our way about how to stay aggressive the entire time we play and to limit how much the other team can control what we want to do to score points. We head into the first full week of September with a 5-3 record and with a good amount of confidence as we travel to Presentation College in Aberdeen, SD on Wednesday the 7th and then out to Viterbo University in LaCrosse, WI for Sept. 9-10.
Wish us luck.
- Coach V
Before we go any further I have to give a HUGE THANK YOU to our JV team and other volunteers for operating the scores table, line judging, and ball shagging all weekend. All of you did a fantastic job and worked extremely long hours. I hope the payment of free food all weekend was sufficient.
Looking back at our weekend we finished 3-1, which is a very positive weekend. However, losing your very last match of a tournament against a rival will always leave a sour taste in your mouth. We opened the weekend on Friday playing Dickinson State. They had recently added 2 players that weren't playing the weeks before from suspension and were 2 very athletic OH's. We weren't sure how much they would change their team but after watching them jump out to a commanding 2 set to 0 lead on York in their first match of the tournament it was clear they were very different then what we saw the weekend before when they were out in Montana. They did end up losing some steam and lost in 5 to York but we still saw them as a dangerous team. We came out extremely focused on our game plan to take the line away from one of those hitters and cross court against the other. The execution of our blocking and then the addition of very solid ball control to keep us in system allowed us to dominate play in a 3 set victory, 25-18, 25-14, 25-15. We hit .370 in the match with only 1 attacker having more than 1 attacking error while also averaging 16 digs a set. It was a great overall match both offensively and defensively. It was an exceptional start to the weekend. We got great balanced performances from Larissa Veldhuizen and Danielle Bird while Kacie Sanderson and TyAnn Buddenhagen were extremely efficient attacking the ball with .417 and .556 hitting %'s. Katie Lindow also came in off the bench as a serving specialist to provide an ace and 3 digs.
We finished Friday night with our match against York College. In the previous few years York had always been a team that you could get school records against because of their level of play. Well not anymore, after seeing them come back from 0-2 to win 3-2 against Dickinson, it was very clear they were a team that had some talent, skill and were well coached. Kudos to Coach Fear for really getting things turned around there at York. This match was competitive the entire time. We could not put them away in any set early to give us that breathing space we like to have to close out sets. We took the first 2 sets (25-22 & 25-20 respectively and then York pushed us to the limit to take the 3rd set 25-23. We had to battle hard again in the 4th to finally close out the match 25-21. We did a great job in the serve & serve receive game with 11 aces and only 2 reception errors. We did well at the net with 11 total blocks and 49 kills. Larissa Veldhuizen was the go to player as she recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs. Katie Lindow again provided some offense with 6 service aces in her serving specialist role. While Sam Sandua continued her consistency for the season with a .238 hitting % and adding 8 kills. And Rachel Tinklenberg hit .300 with 9 kills and added 5 block assists. Tyann Buddenhagen and Briana Jung both provided quality setting and great defense as both were above 15 digs each in the match.
We opened Saturday against Valley City State. This has turned into a big rivalry match over the past 3 seasons. Heading into this match the 2 teams had played 4 times since 2009 with every match going 5 sets. We had a 3-1 record vs. VCSU heading into the match this weekend. It may have also grown into more of a rivalry since the head coach there is my wife's best friend and college teammate. It was a tight match the entire, trading the first 3 sets with us up 2-1 and barely pulling out the 3rd set. We managed to figure out some things with our offensive efficiency for the 4th set to stop the 5 set match streak at 4 and beat VCSU in 4 sets. I can honestly say that looking at the statistics without the scores one would guess VCSU won the match. However, our perseverance through the adversity of not playing as well as we did the day before and against an opponent that wanted the win was extremely key to the victory. We got another double-double out of Larissa Veldhuizen with 13 kills and 13 digs. Brooke Warne provided 20 digs in the match to anchor the defense and Sam Sandau again was Miss consistency with 9 kills with a .350 hitting %. It should be another great match when we go to Valley City the first weekend of Oct.
The last match of the weekend had us facing another rival in Dakota State. They had played some strong volleyball throughout the tournament and I knew they would come out ready to play. Both teams battled hard in the first set to a 25-22 DWU victory. Dak State committed a lot of hitting errors in the first set to help us in that set. We knew that trend would not continue as they are a team that likes to tip and throw the ball around after making mistakes. The 2nd and 3rd set Dakota State pushed themselves out to quick 5 and 6 point leads and never looked back as we looked like deer in headlights during those sets as we could only score 13 and 17 in those sets. The execution of the game plan was non-existence and the focus on the 2 hitters that Dak State uses all of the time was poor. It did not look good for us heading into the 4th set. Again we came out flat in the 4th but fortunately not putting ourselves in too big of hole. Dakota State began to make a few more attacking errors to help us stay close. As we approached the final 5 to 6 points in the set something changed in the attitude of how the team was approaching game and our energy level rose as well as our communication. We clawed our way back to a 23-23 tie and found a way to pull out the 4th to set up what would be a very intense 5th set. The first half of the 5th was back and forth as both teams played well to the 8-7 switch with DWU up. But after the switch of court we lost confidence after back to back throw kills to both deep corners from their MH. They were devastating kills that took the wind out of our sail and unfortunately the aggression out of our game (which will never happen again). It was heart breaking and even to today I have a sour taste in my mouth about how it finished. We did get some good quality performances from Brooke Warne with 25 digs and another double-double from Larissa Veldhuizen with 13 kills and 13 digs again. Other double-doubles recorded were by Danielle Bird with 11 kills and 12 digs and Briana Jung with 24 assists and 15 digs.
Again we'll take the 3-1 record and move on with a lot more learning coming our way about how to stay aggressive the entire time we play and to limit how much the other team can control what we want to do to score points. We head into the first full week of September with a 5-3 record and with a good amount of confidence as we travel to Presentation College in Aberdeen, SD on Wednesday the 7th and then out to Viterbo University in LaCrosse, WI for Sept. 9-10.
Wish us luck.
- Coach V
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