2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball has rough start in the Rocky Mountains
By Andy Barlow
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Sports
The Rock women's volleyball team kicked off the 2008 season last weekend with, fittingly, a trip to the Rocky Mountains to compete in the Oredigger Classic at Colorado School of Mines.
Playing four matches over the course of two days, Coach Laurie Lokash watched her team finish 1-3 as the dust settled. On the opening day of action, SRU lost both matches by a 3-1 count to Western State (Co.) and Chadron State (Neb.). On Saturday, however, the Rock bounced back with a convincing 3-1 victory over Mesa State (Co.), but lost the final match of the weekend to host Colorado School of Mines, 3-2.
Highlighting the team's effort was senior and all-region performer Jen Blasko, who had 15 kills in each match on Saturday. Also making an impact was another all-region performer, Anastasia Urbanik, who totaled 27 kills on the first evening of action and 24 more on Saturday. Despite Urbanik's strong performance, she knows that everyone on the team, herself included, need to step it up a notch.
"We had high expectations for the beginning of the year and we have a strong and competitive group of freshmen who have really been pushing the starters to perform at a higher level," Urbanik said. "The games we lost could have been won. We are just having a few problems in some areas."
Unfortunately for the Rock, one major area of concern is completely out of the team's hands. Injuries have already played a big role in the early season, and for a young team such as this, any lack of depth will obviously create a problem. Lokash's team has only two seniors and two juniors, one of whom, Keira Peoples, is out with an ankle injury. Strong play from the numerous freshmen and sophomore players will be key to future success for the Rock.
"We have experience and we don't," said Lokash. "It will take time to get everyone on the same page but the younger players in this program have raised the standard."
One of those young players making a big difference early is freshman Kaylee Smith. On each night of competition in Colorado, Smith totaled 22 kills. Smith and her teammates will look to improve on a strong effort and translate it into more victories. Already, according to Coach Lokash, an improvement is evident.
"The improvement from Friday to Saturday was like night and day," she said. "We, as a team, became more solid."
The Rock dropped their PSAC-West opener to newcomer Mercyhurst late Wednesday night by a score of 3-1. SRU was lead by Kaylee Smith, who recorded team-high 15 kills. Jen Blasko added 10 kills and 10 digs in the losing effort.
The loss dropped the Rock to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC-West. The Rock will look to right the ship this weekend when they travel back to Mercyhurst to compete in the two-day Laker Invitational. The team's first home match is Sept. 19 vs. California University of Pennsylvania.
Playing four matches over the course of two days, Coach Laurie Lokash watched her team finish 1-3 as the dust settled. On the opening day of action, SRU lost both matches by a 3-1 count to Western State (Co.) and Chadron State (Neb.). On Saturday, however, the Rock bounced back with a convincing 3-1 victory over Mesa State (Co.), but lost the final match of the weekend to host Colorado School of Mines, 3-2.
Highlighting the team's effort was senior and all-region performer Jen Blasko, who had 15 kills in each match on Saturday. Also making an impact was another all-region performer, Anastasia Urbanik, who totaled 27 kills on the first evening of action and 24 more on Saturday. Despite Urbanik's strong performance, she knows that everyone on the team, herself included, need to step it up a notch.
"We had high expectations for the beginning of the year and we have a strong and competitive group of freshmen who have really been pushing the starters to perform at a higher level," Urbanik said. "The games we lost could have been won. We are just having a few problems in some areas."
Unfortunately for the Rock, one major area of concern is completely out of the team's hands. Injuries have already played a big role in the early season, and for a young team such as this, any lack of depth will obviously create a problem. Lokash's team has only two seniors and two juniors, one of whom, Keira Peoples, is out with an ankle injury. Strong play from the numerous freshmen and sophomore players will be key to future success for the Rock.
"We have experience and we don't," said Lokash. "It will take time to get everyone on the same page but the younger players in this program have raised the standard."
One of those young players making a big difference early is freshman Kaylee Smith. On each night of competition in Colorado, Smith totaled 22 kills. Smith and her teammates will look to improve on a strong effort and translate it into more victories. Already, according to Coach Lokash, an improvement is evident.
"The improvement from Friday to Saturday was like night and day," she said. "We, as a team, became more solid."
The Rock dropped their PSAC-West opener to newcomer Mercyhurst late Wednesday night by a score of 3-1. SRU was lead by Kaylee Smith, who recorded team-high 15 kills. Jen Blasko added 10 kills and 10 digs in the losing effort.
The loss dropped the Rock to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC-West. The Rock will look to right the ship this weekend when they travel back to Mercyhurst to compete in the two-day Laker Invitational. The team's first home match is Sept. 19 vs. California University of Pennsylvania.
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