The DU volleyball team split its weekend play in the Sunshine State by losing to Florida International University in Miami on Friday in five sets and sweeping Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton on Saturday.
The weekend ended the Pioneers’ nine-match winning streak and chalked up their first loss in the Sun Belt Conference. DU the team’s record to 16-3 (5-1 SBC).
DU’s play was sturdy to start off against FIU. The Pioneers took the first set (24-26) and kept the pressure on in the second set coming out on top (22-25).
However, after returning from the intermission, DU was not able to hold on to its 2-0 lead. The Pioneers fought hard for every point, but FIU took the third and fourth sets (25-21, 25-18) to force a tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, the teams exchanged points. The score was tied 10 times throughout the set. In the end, the Panthers won (15-13) to deliver DU its first SBC loss .
“We couldn’t transition and convert,” said head coach Beth Kuwata. “Basically, they kept gaining more confidence as the set went on and they started feeling better about themselves, started serving us more aggressively and we started playing more tentatively. Not that we played poorly, ’cause we didn’t, but that little bit is the difference between us winning and losing.”
Despite the loss, several DU players put up big numbers. Senior Kerry Porter led the team with 17 points. Junior Emmy Davidsmeyer had 16, senior Holly Benson had 13 and senior Jacqueline Paul had 11.
Setter Clare Maxwell has a season-high 58 assists, her fourth 50 plus assist match of the season.
On the defensive side, three pioneers had double-digit digs. Davidsmeyer led with 15, while Benson and freshman Jordan Raines totaled 14 apiece.
The next night, the Pioneers rallied to beat Florida Atlantic in straight sets (25-20, 26-24, 25-18).
“It was difficult for us to come back after the FIU match and play back-to-back mentally more so than physically because of how we played,” Kuwata said.
After DU grabbed the first set (25-20), the FAU Owls battled right back keeping it close all the way to 24-24. Denver clinched the final two points on a miscue by the Owls and a kill by Porter (26-24). In the final set, DU put the pressure on FAU by jumping out to an early lead and the Owls were not able to recover.
This weekend, the Pioneers play host to Western Kentucky on Friday at 7 p.m., and Middle Tennessee on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Hamilton Gymnasium.
Throughout the week, Kuwata and the team are taking part in the ‘Dig for the Cure’ fundraiser to benefit the James Graham Brown Cancer Society in Louisville, Kentucky. The team became involved after hearing that a close friend of the Western Kentucky volleyball coaching staff, Kela Fee, had been re-diagnosed with cancer and is being treated at the center.
Special “Denver Athletic” t-shirts will be avB,B,ailable at both games this weekend for $10. Players will be taking pledges this week and fans can pledge $1 for each dig that is recorded over the weekend’s games. All proceeds from the shirts and pledges will go to benefit the cancer center.
“There are the right things to do and this is one of the right things to do,” Kuwata said. “We have been selling t-shirts and our kids are getting pledges. We will have donations at the door for both matches this weekend.”
“There is a lot at stake this weekend. We put ourselves in a position where these matches really matter. We’ve talked about them from probably the beginning of the season, all three of these teams with FIU beginning included, so we’re looking forward to playing them.”
At practice on Monday and throughout the week, the team will continue to focus and strengthening fundamentals amongst other things in preparation for the weekend.
“Well it’s the technical aspect of playing any sport and the tactical aspect,” said Kuwata. “When we start worrying about teams and we start tactics, we forget about our technique and about being aggressive and about doing some of the things technically correct. So, we will always work on the basics.”
“In some ways it’s a very, very simple game. It’s trying to keep the ball of your side, trying to put the ball down on someone else’s side. There is a big part of it that is just passing setting and attacking at the small, basic level.”
