WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team will head into this weekend’s tournament at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, with a 10-11 record after back-to-back losses.
The Grizzlies fell to 14th-ranked Indian Hills Community College 20-25, 26-28, 16-25 Monday evening, Sept. 29, in Ottumwa, Iowa, after dropping a key Region 16 match to Jefferson College of Hillsboro, Missouri, 24-26, 23-25, 25-20, 20-25 Thursday, Sept. 25, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
According to the Tyler Junior College Invitational schedule, the Grizzlies will face New Mexico Military Institute of Roswell at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, and fifth-ranked Western Nebraska Community College of Scotts Bluff at 2 p.m. that same day. On Saturday, Oct. 4, the Grizzlies will face Navarro College, Corsicana, Texas, at 9 a.m. and Western Texas College, Snyder, at 1 p.m.
Before the tournament, however, the Grizzlies have some work to do, according to Head Coach Paula Wiedemann. “We were beginning to play pretty well, but we slumped in these last two matches,” she said. “We have to begin playing with a sense of purpose and passion. We have to find that killer instinct and competitive fire. Jefferson came in and was fired up to get a win, and that was the factor that made the difference in the outcome of that match.”
Statistically, the Grizzlies didn’t play badly. They averaged nearly 19 digs per set and hit .285 as a team. Still it could have been better, Wiedemann said. Freshman middle attacker Penny Liu led the team in kills with 17, in service aces with two and in points earned with 21.5. Freshman setter Susannah Kelley led the team in assists with 22. Sophomore outside attacker/defensive specialist Kaili Simmons led the team in passing rating with 2.82, and sophomore libero Alyssa Aldag led the team in digs with 27. Freshman outside attacker Pulotu Manoa led the team in blocks with 3.5, including three solo blocks.
The Grizzlies didn’t fare much better in their trip to Ottumwa, where they hit .220 as a team and mustered 14 digs per set. “Indian Hills has put together some very good things through the course of this last month,” Wiedemann said. “They’re ranked 14th right now, and they’re always hard to play at their house. They have a big crowd, and the design of their gym puts that crowd right on you. They’re also able to carry the momentum they develop into the next set. When we’ve been up two sets, we’ve had trouble continuing that momentum into the third set. Indian Hills didn’t have that problem last night.”
Statistical leaders included Liu with 12 kills, one ace, one block and 14 points earned; Kelley with 20 assists; freshman outside hitter Gabby Edmondson with 11 digs; and Aldag with a 2.43 passing rating.
“We have to find a combination of players and rotations that will allow us to put points together,” Wiedemann said. “When you run a 6-2 offense, you have the ability to distribute the ball a little more, but we have to put longer runs together to make it effective.
“We’ve got work to do, that’s the bottom line, and that’s what we’re going to do,” she continued. “We need to find some consistency, and our leadership on the court needs to get better. We need to work to develop that leadership, and that’s my job.”
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.