Fans cheered from the edge of their seats Tuesday night in hopes that the Pioneers would not lose momentum on their record-setting season after starting the match off slow and losing the first two sets.
Those fans were not to be disappointed as DU battled back over the next three sets, beating the Northern Colorado Bears in a tiebreaker game at Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Pioneers’ win on Tuesday and subsequent victory on Saturday against North Texas brings their overall record to 12-2 and continues to expand on what is the best start to a season in Pioneer volleyball history.
In the first set against UNC, the Pioneers started off lazily conceding the first six of seven points. Although they were able to get within two points, it turned out to be a deficit from which they would not be able to recover and lost (22-25).
DU tried to keep their spirits up in the second game, which was very close. However, the clearly frustrated DU squad lost the second game after a nail-biting final point (21-25).
Head coach Beth Kuwata then spoke to the disheartened team during the break, hoping refocus and reenergize.
“We have to play inspired volleyball and today we did not come out with any kind of passion or enthusiasm about what we were doing,” Kuwata said. “We just kind of let the game come to us and it never came, to games one and two. Obviously something needed to change and we got a little more energy, but we still needed a little bit more.
Kuwata said she discussed what it means ot have pride in the program and to have pride in how the team played.
“We didn’t have the energy and enthusiasm that we normally play with, so it was a lot of the intangible things that we did not bring to games one and two that we talked about bringing to games three, four and five. We started playing their style of volleyball and we can’t do that,” Kuwata said.
Despite the words of wisdom, the Pioneers came back onto the court for the third set looking tired and defeated. The game, however, turned out to be a thriller as DU and UNC traded points back and forth the entire way and came out on top (25-23).
While fans weren’t sure DU could keep it up, the Pioneers continued to battle through the fourth, winning (26-24) and forcing a fifth tiebreaker set.
DU student Adam Cyre, although exhausted from cheering, was elated with the resilience of the team.
“I just love watching the girl’s volleyball team,” said Cyre. “I have been to every home game so far. At the beginning they were a little shaky, but with the help of the fans they really brought it together.” Cyre offered his advice to “Keep playing the way they are playing.”
The Pioneers were able to maintain their momentum and win the final game (15-11).
Although the fans enjoyed the excitement of the game, Kuwata was not fully convinced.
“Fun, maybe for you,” Kuwata said. “We, I guess, have been playing at a higher level than maybe what we played at today. We didn’t have our A game by any stretch of the imagination, but we managed certain parts of the game very well, and when push came to shove we won the critical points.”
Kuwata is looking forward to the upcoming conference play, but knows that his pioneering squad still has some work to do.
“You know, conference play is a tough place to play,” said Kuwata. “You travel and start playing on the road and playing tough teams now, especially within our conference. We need to focus on fixing some things this week and we will be much better off.”
The Pioneers play three games at home this weekend starting by hosting New Orleans on Friday. They then play Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. All three games will begin at 7 p.m. in the Hamilton Gymnasium.
