CASPER, Wyo. – It was one of the longest and most contested matches of the day, and when the dust finally settled at the Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming, late Thursday evening, Nov. 20, the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team came up just short in its quarterfinal battle against College of Southern Idaho (CSI) at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women’s National Volleyball Championship Tournament.
The Grizzlies (26-13), seeded 11th in the three-day event, fell to the third seeded Golden Eagles (34-2) from Twin Falls 25-27, 24-26, 26-24, 25-22, 11-15 in a two-plus-hour contest described as one of the best of the tournament so far by the NJCAA TV on-air commentator for the match.
The Grizzlies will now face 10th seed Arizona Western College (20-6) of Yuma at 3:30 p.m. local time today in the semifinals of the tournament’s fifth-place consolation bracket. The highest the Grizzlies can place in this year’s tournament is fifth; the lowest is eighth. Tournament matches can be viewed via streaming live video at www.njcaatv.com/volleyballchampionship/.
The Grizzlies showed grit and determination Thursday evening as they battled back from a two-set deficit, but Head Coach Paula Wiedemann admitted it was disappointing to know this team, which is more than capable of reaching the final four, didn’t achieve that goal.
“I cannot tell you how proud I am of how well this team has played this year. As a coach, when I look at how they started the year and see how far they have come, I can’t sit here and be upset. But what I’m having a hard time dealing with is just knowing that this team could have made the final four. I wanted them to experience that. We know we belong, we know we should be there, and it was within our reach, that’s the hard part to take,” she said.
Statistically, the Grizzlies should have won the match. They out hit the Golden Eagles . 248 to .212, they out dug CSI 67 to 57, and they out blocked CSI 17 to 12.5. “You look at those stats and you say there’s no way we should have lost that match. We should have won it in the first four sets,” Wiedemann said.
Confidence proved to be the deciding factor in this contest, she added. “We talked about it throughout the course of the year, and that was the big difference last night. CSI went at it, and we didn’t display enough of it toward them. If we could have went at them the same way they went at us…when it comes down to it, that was the difference,” she said.
Losing the first set could have played a role in the Grizzlies’ confidence level. The Grizzlies had two set points on the Golden Eagles, but they let the opportunities slip past them with a serve in the net and a shanked ball. They found their confidence again in sets three and four, but “we gave away too many opportunities, and in the end, CSI went at it swinging for the win and got it,” Wiedemann said.
Statistical leaders for the Grizzlies included freshman middle attacker Penny Liu, who had 25 kills on 46 attemtps with six errors for an attacking percentage of .413, seven blocks (four solos), two service aces and 34 points earned; freshman setter Susannah Kelley, who had 55 assists; and sophmore outside hitter/defensive specialist Kaili Simmons, who had 17 digs. Sophomore setter/hitter Brianna Zebert also had two service aces.
The tournament’s not over for the Grizzlies, and Wiedemann reminded the players of that following the match when she told them how proud she was of them and that they still had work to do. “The match with Arizona Western is going to be a barn burner,” she predicted. “They’re fiery, and they’re a lot like the teams we’ve faced out of Florida. I’m really thankful the girls are getting some rest this moring because last night’s match was grueling, especially mentally, and it’s going to be the mental aspect that’s going to be key for us today. If they carry last night’s match into today, it will be tough. But if we approach it with something to prove, we will be okay.”
For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, visit the team’s website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/vb/. For more information about the national tournament, visit http://njcaacasper.net/.