Colorado College’s women’s volleyball team has dominated this season. Their current record is 16-1 overall, 7-0 for conference play, and they’ve given up a mere seven sets. This weekend, the Tigers traveled to Texas for four games. They won every game, putting CC in first place of the SCAC and ranked ninth in the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
“We really worked hard this past week on strengthening our middle attack and I think our middle’s really stepped up and played well,” said Head Coach Rick Swan. “Plus, our defense was just fantastic. Our ball control was great. Our defensive players had some fantastic digs. Sophie Merrifield, our libero, played awesome throughout the weekend.”
On Sept. 26, the day started with a match against Trinity University. CC won the match 3-0, but Trinity put up a tough fight in the last two sets.
The second set was tied 23-23. Senior hitter Courtney Birkett hit a kill to give CC set point. Trinity tried to fight back with a kill of their own, but it was blocked by senior middle hitter Kaimara Herron, securing CC the second set. Birkett was later named SCAC Offensive Player of the Week for her performance over the weekend.
“During the second set of the match against Trinity, we were down towards the end, and after a timeout we all stepped up and told each other we were not going to lose this game, and came from behind to win,” said first-year middle hitter Myca Steffey-Bean.
The third set was a reversal of the second. Trinity held set point at 24-23. A kill by Steffey-Bean tied things up. Steffey-Bean then teamed up for back-to-back blocks with junior outside hitter Abbe Holtze and first-year right side hitter Aria Dudley. CC took the third set, and the match ended in a sweep.
“Our team is continuing to improve defensively,” said senior defensive specialist Sophie Merrifield. “The front row players have done a great job of blocking at the net, which has helped us defenders with our positioning. We have been focusing on getting a quality first touch on the ball in order to run a successful offense. With our improved communication, the team has become much more successful defensively.”
The second game was against Schreiner University, and CC crushed them in another sweep. Schreiner didn’t stand a chance, with CC winning each set 25-14, 25-13, and 25-16. Steffey-Bean led the attack against Schreiner with 15 kills, a career high.
“The biggest strength of our offense is a combination of great passing and an array of incredible hitters across the net,” said sophomore setter Sarah Barker. “With our great passes, we can run the offense effectively with our wide variety of hitters. The depth of talent on our team leaves the other team guessing who the ball is going to and helps everyone get kills.”
The next day CC gave Southwestern University their first conference loss of the season. Southwestern put up a fight and was the only team to win a set against CC the entire weekend.
“Although we dropped a set against them, we all came out focused and ready to play,” said Herron. “It was a great match to test ourselves in order to see how far we’ve come as a team and how much more we have to achieve.”
The Tigers won the first two sets, but Southwestern pulled ahead in the third set, ultimately winning it. Nevertheless, that set was still a great moment for CC. Holtze became the ninth player in CC history to record 1,000 career kills. While CC was behind in the third set, Barker set up a ball for Holtze to make that thousandth kill. Then CC came back in the fourth set to win the entire match.
“Abbe’s an awesome player,” said Swan. “She’s done great things for us in three years, and to have her reach that milestone is really awesome.”
Similar to the first day, CC’s second opponent of the day, Texas Lutheran University, didn’t stand much of a chance. It was another sweep for CC, winning each set 25-16, 25-15, and 25-10.
“We are all on the same wavelength on the court,” said Steffey-Bean. “We have realized what we need to do to win. It’s like a well-oiled machine when we are out playing.”
Another CC player may also be making history soon. After this weekend, Birkett only needs 39 more kills to become the 10th player to record 1,000 kills; and it may even happen when CC hosts the Pikes Peak Challenge this weekend on Oct. 2 and 3.
“The teams playing in the Pikes Peak Challenge this weekend will certainly be good competitors,” said Herron. “We’re looking forward to seeing what they do across the net but our primary focus is always performing to our highest potential and controlling our side of the net.”