Photo courtesy of Scott Hagen
Sophomore Tessa Bloemers passes the ball in front of senior line judge Nick Woodall as junior Summer Way looks on from the bench against Micihgan Tech Oct. 8. The Chargers lost the match 3-1.
After a strong start to their season, the Charger volleyball team is struggling to prove they belong in the same category as the top teams in the nation.
Despite tough play, the Chargers have had much difficulty competing with the high caliber of teams in the GLIAC.
They dropped two matches this weekend against No. 10 Grand Valley State University and Ferris State University. The losses bring the Chargers to 14-6 overall, 7-4 GLIAC, leaving them in third place in the GLIAC South, and only getting three votes for the top 25 poll this week.
The Chargers started the match against the Lakers on Friday positively, posting a 31-29 victory. They lost their momentum, however, and dropped the next three games 20-30, 23-30, 15-30.
"We played really well our first match against Grand Valley. We were like a whirlwind man: we were aggressive, intense, focused, everything you need to be to beat a team like Grand Valley," junior Sumer Way said. "In our second game it was close and we lost, and the last two games we just seemed to lack that intense hunger from the first game. We played hard, but just lacked the aggressiveness that you absolutely need to be successful against a team like that."
The team averaged only a .127 hitting percentage to Grand Valley's .341, a huge statistical disadvantage. However, sophomore Taryn Rudland killed 15, and sophomore Katherine Jones added nine.
Rudland landed on the GLIAC honor roll for her performances the last two weeks, which brings her honor roll appearance to six weeks in a row, with seven total appearances.
On Saturday, they headed to Allendale to take on the Bulldogs of Ferris State. There, the Chargers faced some stiff competition and lost 24-30, 24-30, 26-30.
Sophomore Becky Grzegorski led the team with 13 kills and .286 hitting percentage, yet couldn't help the Chargers to more than a .114 combined hitting percentage.
"The GLIAC is proving to be even more competitive and tough than anticipated," head coach Chris Gravel said. "The teams in the league are beating one another up, except for Grand Valley which has stepped outside and is continuing to beat everybody. We know that nothing's guaranteed. We start the rest of our season today."
The Chargers earned a tough win over No. 14 Northern Michigan by a score of 3-2 Oct. 9, and followed by defeating Lake Superior State University 3-1. On Oct. 8 they suffered a loss to Michigan Tech, 3-1.
The team was again led by Rudland with a combined 48 kills on the weekend. Grzegorski followed with 43, sophomore Tessa Bloemers added 28 along with senior Heidi Scott's 24.
Friday the team will travel to Gannon University, followed by Mercyhurst University on Saturday to fight to the top of the GLIAC again.