Column: Match concentration needed in volleyball
Bob Bajek/Columnist
Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: Sports
The Eastern women's volleyball team said something during a timeout during its match against Western Illinois on Friday night during the EIU Panther Tournament that was particularly revealing about the team's needs.
"Focus!" was yelled as they broke the huddle. It was the perfect situation to use that word as a rallying cry. The Panthers were trailing Western Illinois 14-7 in the fourth set and were behind two sets to one.
Despite the time out, not much changed. Then again, based on this year's results maybe nothing should have. Western geared up for an 11-2 run to put the match away, as Eastern has yet to come back from a five-point or greater deficit to win a set this season. The Panthers seem to lose concentration when they are trailing in a match. Against Toledo in the same tournament, each time Eastern fell behind the Rockets by two points early in a set, it would become an almost insurmountable deficit.
One of the Panthers' weaknesses is unforced errors. In the third set against the Rockets, Eastern led 6-5 when sophomore outside hitter Alex Zwettler had an attack error. Zwettler's teammates committed two more errors before head coach Lori Bennett called a timeout with the Panthers trailing 11-8. Eastern eventually lost the set and the match. The Panthers have given up 78 of their 118 errors in their match losses this season for an average of 19.5 errors per defeat. Likewise, the Panthers had just 40 errors in their victories for an average of 13.33 errors per win. Another area of improvement needed is the serve-receive offense. The Panthers struggled against Toledo when trying to receive the Rockets' serves. Many times the ball would be hit out of the offensive system, thus the setter wouldn't produce an effective set for the attack. Senior middle hitter Lauren Sopcic said the key of the Panthers' offense is executing good serve receiving. Bennett said her team has to get used to trailing in a match and not freak out.
"We need to focus on each new ball," Sopcic said after losing to Toledo on Saturday night. "If we make an error, we need to forget about it and (concentrate) on the new ball."
Chicago State became Exhibit A on how low errors and good passing set up victories. In a solid 13-0 run during set two, Eastern tamed the Cougars by charging to a 15-6 advantage. A hitting percentage of .400 coupled with only two errors made the Panthers look like a dominating team in that set. Freshman middle blocker Melanie Boykins said her team could play with that concentration all the time.
"We want to focus on the way we play and do it right," said Boykins, who had eight kills against Chicago State. The Panthers showed flashes of brilliance against the Cougars individually and as a team. They have the talent to win. They need the concentration to overcome difficult situations.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
"Focus!" was yelled as they broke the huddle. It was the perfect situation to use that word as a rallying cry. The Panthers were trailing Western Illinois 14-7 in the fourth set and were behind two sets to one.
Despite the time out, not much changed. Then again, based on this year's results maybe nothing should have. Western geared up for an 11-2 run to put the match away, as Eastern has yet to come back from a five-point or greater deficit to win a set this season. The Panthers seem to lose concentration when they are trailing in a match. Against Toledo in the same tournament, each time Eastern fell behind the Rockets by two points early in a set, it would become an almost insurmountable deficit.
One of the Panthers' weaknesses is unforced errors. In the third set against the Rockets, Eastern led 6-5 when sophomore outside hitter Alex Zwettler had an attack error. Zwettler's teammates committed two more errors before head coach Lori Bennett called a timeout with the Panthers trailing 11-8. Eastern eventually lost the set and the match. The Panthers have given up 78 of their 118 errors in their match losses this season for an average of 19.5 errors per defeat. Likewise, the Panthers had just 40 errors in their victories for an average of 13.33 errors per win. Another area of improvement needed is the serve-receive offense. The Panthers struggled against Toledo when trying to receive the Rockets' serves. Many times the ball would be hit out of the offensive system, thus the setter wouldn't produce an effective set for the attack. Senior middle hitter Lauren Sopcic said the key of the Panthers' offense is executing good serve receiving. Bennett said her team has to get used to trailing in a match and not freak out.
"We need to focus on each new ball," Sopcic said after losing to Toledo on Saturday night. "If we make an error, we need to forget about it and (concentrate) on the new ball."
Chicago State became Exhibit A on how low errors and good passing set up victories. In a solid 13-0 run during set two, Eastern tamed the Cougars by charging to a 15-6 advantage. A hitting percentage of .400 coupled with only two errors made the Panthers look like a dominating team in that set. Freshman middle blocker Melanie Boykins said her team could play with that concentration all the time.
"We want to focus on the way we play and do it right," said Boykins, who had eight kills against Chicago State. The Panthers showed flashes of brilliance against the Cougars individually and as a team. They have the talent to win. They need the concentration to overcome difficult situations.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
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