Volleyball loses on the road
10/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Coaches and athletes treat losing like a disease.
Like they would a bad cold, teams want to get losing "out of their system" and just move on to the next game.
After dropping two away games over the weekend, the University of Montana's head volleyball coach Nikki Best hopes she saw the worst of what her team has to offer so the group can get on and get over it.
"I know now that our girls can look back at last weekend as just a snapshot of one bad weekend," Best said. "It's not a reflection of who we really are and what we really can do."
After losing against Weber State and Idaho State - two games that Montana had hoped to take on the road - Best said she was a bit miffed that her team played so poorly.
"We weren't cocky going into the weekend, but we did have confidence," she said.
In hindsight, Best said the team should have spent more time in the gym last week.
But the long trek to Ogden, Utah, then back to Pocatello, Idaho, didn't help the team's resilience or stamina.
The trip is always Best's least favorite of the season.
A handful of Grizzlies trying to play with the flu also contributed to the Grizzlies' down weekend, Best said.
But she wasn't quick to make excuses about playing poorly.
"A mature team plays well on the road," Best said. "Maybe that's where we have to grow is knowing we can play well out of our gym."
Against Weber, the Grizzlies didn't come into their own until games three and four.
After dropping the first two games 31-29 and 30-17, the Griz rallied back to force a game five - the first time Montana has played five games in one match all year.
"Sometimes it's hard to come back mentally after losing games one and two," Best said. "But our girls worked their way back into it and wouldn't quit."
However, when game five rolled around, Montana made too many critical errors, which cost it the match.
Offensively, the Wildcats were led by Stephanie Kropushek and Holly Montano, two of the top hitters in the conference.
Against Montana, Kropushek notched 27 kills and 12 digs. Montano added 14 kills and a pair of aces.
Junior outside hitter Lizzie Wertz paced Montana both on offense and defense, tallying 21 kills and 21 digs.
After the game in Ogden, the Griz pulled up stakes and headed for Pocatello that evening.
While realizing her squad was both mentally and physically fatigued, Best canceled their routine morning practice before the game Saturday night against the Bengals.
She hoped the extra rest and time spent in the pool would rejuvenate the team, but Best now questions whether nixing practice was the best medicine for the team.
"At the time,a it felt like the right decision to not have that serve and pass session in the morning," Best said. "But it seemed to really throw us off."
Against Idaho, the Grizzlies simply couldn't deliver.
They couldn't pass, sets were off and kills either went out of bounds or in the net, Best said.
Losing in three straight games, the Grizzlies had a season-high 36 hitting errors, and Best attributed that to bad passing.
"When you're in a new surrounding and passes are off a little, that makes the sets less precise, which translates statistically into a poor hitting percentage," Best said.
Wertz, Montana's top hitter, had one of the worst hitting nights of her career, Best said.
Wertz normally averages a hitting percentage around .250, but against Idaho, she hit .000.
"She was just trying so hard to help out her team win," Best said. "Sometimes when you're trying so hard, the thing you're trying to do just goes the other way."
After last weekend, the Griz have leveled off their record to 7-7 and hope to use home games against Northern Arizona and Sacramento State this weekend to wash the bad taste out of their mouths.
"We're going to let it go and pray we never see that type of volleyball game again," Best said.
Like they would a bad cold, teams want to get losing "out of their system" and just move on to the next game.
After dropping two away games over the weekend, the University of Montana's head volleyball coach Nikki Best hopes she saw the worst of what her team has to offer so the group can get on and get over it.
"I know now that our girls can look back at last weekend as just a snapshot of one bad weekend," Best said. "It's not a reflection of who we really are and what we really can do."
After losing against Weber State and Idaho State - two games that Montana had hoped to take on the road - Best said she was a bit miffed that her team played so poorly.
"We weren't cocky going into the weekend, but we did have confidence," she said.
In hindsight, Best said the team should have spent more time in the gym last week.
But the long trek to Ogden, Utah, then back to Pocatello, Idaho, didn't help the team's resilience or stamina.
The trip is always Best's least favorite of the season.
A handful of Grizzlies trying to play with the flu also contributed to the Grizzlies' down weekend, Best said.
But she wasn't quick to make excuses about playing poorly.
"A mature team plays well on the road," Best said. "Maybe that's where we have to grow is knowing we can play well out of our gym."
Against Weber, the Grizzlies didn't come into their own until games three and four.
After dropping the first two games 31-29 and 30-17, the Griz rallied back to force a game five - the first time Montana has played five games in one match all year.
"Sometimes it's hard to come back mentally after losing games one and two," Best said. "But our girls worked their way back into it and wouldn't quit."
However, when game five rolled around, Montana made too many critical errors, which cost it the match.
Offensively, the Wildcats were led by Stephanie Kropushek and Holly Montano, two of the top hitters in the conference.
Against Montana, Kropushek notched 27 kills and 12 digs. Montano added 14 kills and a pair of aces.
Junior outside hitter Lizzie Wertz paced Montana both on offense and defense, tallying 21 kills and 21 digs.
After the game in Ogden, the Griz pulled up stakes and headed for Pocatello that evening.
While realizing her squad was both mentally and physically fatigued, Best canceled their routine morning practice before the game Saturday night against the Bengals.
She hoped the extra rest and time spent in the pool would rejuvenate the team, but Best now questions whether nixing practice was the best medicine for the team.
"At the time,a it felt like the right decision to not have that serve and pass session in the morning," Best said. "But it seemed to really throw us off."
Against Idaho, the Grizzlies simply couldn't deliver.
They couldn't pass, sets were off and kills either went out of bounds or in the net, Best said.
Losing in three straight games, the Grizzlies had a season-high 36 hitting errors, and Best attributed that to bad passing.
"When you're in a new surrounding and passes are off a little, that makes the sets less precise, which translates statistically into a poor hitting percentage," Best said.
Wertz, Montana's top hitter, had one of the worst hitting nights of her career, Best said.
Wertz normally averages a hitting percentage around .250, but against Idaho, she hit .000.
"She was just trying so hard to help out her team win," Best said. "Sometimes when you're trying so hard, the thing you're trying to do just goes the other way."
After last weekend, the Griz have leveled off their record to 7-7 and hope to use home games against Northern Arizona and Sacramento State this weekend to wash the bad taste out of their mouths.
"We're going to let it go and pray we never see that type of volleyball game again," Best said.
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