Volleyball goes 5-3 while surviving the road games

It’s been a while since Virginia Wesleyan Volleyball has seen home court advantage. However, that hasn’t hurt the Marlins. Since Sept. 29, the Marlins have gone 5-3 on the road, giving them an overall record of 15-5.

The Marlins took on the Roanoke Maroons Oct. 2, and suffered a tough match loss. After losing the first game, the Marlins rallied back and won the second two games 30-18 and 25-30, and lost the match win in the last game 20-30.

“With the second game our hitting percentage and number of digs were real high, in order to win the match we would have had to transfer those numbers over and we didn’t execute like we did in the second game” said Corey Phillips.

The Marlins lost a key player and right side hitter, Jen Perkinson, due to an injury.

“It was the first game we played without Jen Perkinson, due to an ankle injury, and she is out for two and a half weeks,” said Caitlin Haggerty.

Jennifer Perkinson sprained her ankle during practice; however, she will be back for the game against Randolph-Macon College on Oct. 16th.

“We definitely miss Jen’s offense from the right side, but other players have stepped up and contributed in the right side position,” said Coach Anna Tool. “We still could have beaten Roanoke, but we struggled to hold our focus and intensity after winning game two of the match”

After losing a heartbreaking match to Roanoke College, the Marlins played Hollins University and revived their strength as a team with a three game win sweep.

“Even though we won in three games, the games should not have been so close,” said Corey Phillips, one of the three captains of the team. While the scores for the games were 30-20, 30-22, 30-27, Phillips feels the team needed more intensity on the floor against their opponent.

“We should have had more momentum coming from the Roanoke game,” said Phillips.

After undergoing one defeat and winning one match, the Marlins played Randolph-Macon Women’s College and won yet another match on the road.

“A long bus ride effected our play, it took us awhile to get our feet moving,” said Haggerty.

The Marlins won the first two games both 30-25, lost the third 18-30, and then came back to win the fourth game 30-19 for a match win. The Marlins then played York College just two days later and suffered a another stressful loss in five games.

“It was the best high intensity game we had, we really worked hard together despite the detrimental loss of our star hitter Jennifer Perkinson,” said Erika Ludolph.

“The match against York was a battle,” said Coach Tool. “The team struggled in the first two games, but fought hard to win game three.”

Coach Tool has stressed ball control to her team this entire season because all of the opposing teams can play at a competitive level.

“In game five, we did not have as strong of ball control and gave up too many run of points to York,” said Coach Tool. “When game five is only to 15 points, every play on the ball is critical and unfortunately, we made too many errors down the stretch.”

After losing two matches on the road, the Marlins were gunning for a win against Villa Julie College.

“We struggled to gain momentum and to stay sharp with our play,” said Coach Tool. “ It was a five game battle and fortunately we finished on top of that one.”

“Corey Phillips got injured in this game; a left/right side hitter,” said Haggerty. “We picked up the game because we knew we had to overcome another injury”

On Oct. 9th, the volleyball team faced off against Goucher College and battled yet another match with two injuried hitters.

“We started out much stronger — we took control in the first game and won quickly then struggled off and on to hold our focus through the rest of the match,” said Coach Tool.

After playing three non ODAC games, the Marlins faced a rival, Lynchburg College, and won the biggest match of the season thus far.

“It was our biggest win all season, we played our best,” said Ludoloph. Although the team lost the first two games, they re-focused to win the last three games for an ODAC match win.

“We lost our first two matches, but no one got down because we didn’t lose faith and all worked as a team,” said Haggerty.

The final scores for the games against The Hornets were 22-30, 16-30, 30-27, 30-28, and 15-13.

After two weeks of steady and fierce competition the volleyball team will take a slight break before they take on Bridgewater College at home Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. If the Marlins can keep their players fresh and healthy, the ODAC Championship is not far from their grasp.