WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The 2014 home season for the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team started on a sour note Wednesday, Sept. 3, thanks to a 2-3 set loss to Indian Hills Community College, Ottumwa, Iowa, at the Joe Paul Evans Arena in the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies, now 4-5 on the season, fell to the Warriors 18-25, 25-13, 25-21, 24-26, 14-16 in their season home opener before a good crowd.
“It was a tough home loss,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said. “Indian Hills is a good team. To their credit, they came back after losing the second set and made it a battle both ways.”
After starting slow in the first set, the Grizzlies used their serve to set the tone in the second, taking the Warriors out of their game plan. But Indian Hills adjusted in the third and made the rest of the contest a nip-and-tuck battle.
“Offensively, we were efficient. Defensively, we were not, and that’s a communication issue,” Wiedemann said. “We blocked well, but I don’t think we dug the ball as well. We play a defense that adapts to what other teams are doing. We need to be able to adjust to what the other team’s high percentage shots are, and we didn’t do that very well last night. When we start doing that, it changes the way we play defensively and offensively. We saw improvement in our defense last weekend in Salt Lake City, but last night, we were all over the place. Hopefully, we will learn something from this loss.”
Offensive statistics show freshman outside hitter Penny Liu leading the way with 18 kills on 31 attempts with one error for an attacking percentage of .548. Freshman setter Suzannah Kelley led the team in assists with 30 and in service aces with two. Liu also led the team in points earned with 19.5.
Defensively, the Grizzlies were led at the net by sophomore middle attacker Lee Lee Barrett with 4.5 total blocks. Redshirt freshman right side/middle attacker Ashley Bishton led the team in solo blocks with three. Sophomore libero Alyssa Aldag paced the Grizzlies in digs with 20.
“We did some very good things,” Wiedemann said. “We see bright spots in a lot of different areas, but we’re going to have to put all of those pieces together.”
Wiedemann thanked fans for creating a great atmosphere for the team’s first home match. “We really appreciated the support from the crowd. A lot of people said that, even though it was a loss, they enjoyed watching a hard-fought game,” she said.
She also thanked Stacy Johnson and The Fish Shack for sponsoring the match. “We always appreciate the support of Stacy Johnson and his crew,” she said. Johnson also provided the meal for the Grizzly Booster Club’s annual Fall Picnic held prior to the match. An estimated 450 area residents attended the event, officials said.
The Grizzlies will use the next several days to prepare for the Central Florida College Invitational Sept. 12 and 13 in Ocala, Fla. On Sept. 12, they are scheduled to play Miami Dade College of Miami, Florida, at 2 p.m. and Polk State College of Winter Haven, Florida, at 6 p.m. On Sept. 13, they will play the host team at 11 a.m. and Indian River State College of Fort Pierce, Florida, at 3 p.m.
For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, visit the team’s website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/vb/. Complete team statistics can be found at http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/wvball/2014-15/div1/teams/MissouriStateUniversityWestPlains.