The women’s volleyball team hit the road for the first time this season to compete in SCAC play against a number of conference schools. The weekend in Sherman, Texas saw the women falling to Trinity University and Southwestern University on Saturday, but bouncing back to record decisive wins against Texas Lutheran University and Schreiner University on Sunday. Despite CC’s impressive 13-2 overall record, they currently occupy the third spot in the SCAC standings.
Head Coach Rick Swan lamented the team’s losses to two tough opponents, but emphasized that he and the team want to hold themselves to a high standard. “As a team we were disappointed in our play this past weekend,” said Swan. “We know we didn’t play our best but we learned a lot about ourselves and where we need to improve. We definitely need to work on our overall ball control and quality of our first touch.”
Senior outside hitter Abbe Holtze and junior middle hitter Glenna Yancey shined for the Tigers in their first loss against Trinity on Saturday. Holtze recorded 17 kills and 14 digs, while Yancey added another 17 kills and a team-high of eight blocks en route to losing to Trinity in four sets.
CC didn’t fare any better against Southwestern later in the day, falling to the undefeated Pirates in three consecutive sets, 26-24, 25-16, 25-13. Holtze recorded 11 digs and seven more kills, bringing her total up to 24 kills on the day. Junior outside hitter Reagan Folaron and first-year middle hitter Marguerite Spaethling each recorded a team-leading eight blocks.
“Our conference is very talented with some of the best teams in the country,” Swan said. “We never like to lose and know we have to be at our best each weekend in conference.”
Saturday’s losses appeared to be the wake-up call the Tigers needed. They roared back to win both of their matches against TLU and Schreiner on Sunday. “We bounced back well on Saturday and got two nice wins with a quite few young players contributing,” Swan said. Holtze recorded 19 kills and 12 digs, and Yancey added a career-high of 17 kills.
“Glenna Yancey has really stepped up in the middle and has played extremely well,” said Swan. “She currently leads the team with a .327 hitting percentage.”
First-year setter Lizzy Counts and senior setter Rebecca Watson teamed up to earn a pair of double-doubles against TLU. Counts had a career-best 26 assists and 17 digs, and Watson notched a season-high 21 assists and added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season.
CC swept Schreiner in three sets in their second match of the day, toppling the Mountaineers 25-11, 25-19, 25-17. First-year libero Anna Gurolnick recorded a team-high of 14 digs. CC’s victory kept Schreiner winless in SCAC play, dropping their record to 0-6 against conference opponents.
Following two decisive wins on Sunday, the Tigers drove up I-25 for a Wednesday evening matchup in Denver against Johnson and Wales University. Prior to the game, Swan pointed out aspects of the team’s play that gave them trouble over the weekend and had to be worked on before the match Wednesday.
“Johnson and Wales is a much improved team and it can always be a tough place to play on the road,” Swan said. “We look to settle down our ball control and take care of the little things on our side of the net.”
The Tigers did just that, holding Johnson and Wales to a meager .045 hitting percentage and sweeping them in three consecutive sets. CC forced 26 hitting errors, and held J&W to 31 kills on 111 attempts.
Outside hitter Raegan Folaron led the offense with eight kills, adding five digs on defense. Counts had a team-high 20 assists, while Gurolnick notched a solid 20 digs on defense. Yancey continued her strong play with a team-high six blocks to contribute on defense as well.
The Colorado College Volleyball team will resume SCAC play this Tuesday against Colorado Christian University in Reid Arena at 6 p.m.