Volleyball wins National Invitational
“We were excited,” said sophomore Kara Liefer about the women’s volleyball performance this weekend in Springfield, Ohio, where the second-ranked Bears won the National Invitational II title.
After defeating Muskingum College 30-17, 30-23, 30-25 on Saturday morning, the Bears competed against the host, Wittenberg University. The Bears lost the first game 27-30. At this point, said Liefer, “We knew what we had to do.” After creating a new strategy and discussing their opponents’ weaknesses, “We stepped it up,” said Liefer, who was an integral part of this victory. With a first career triple-double, she led her team in a 31-29, 30-23, 30-25 victory in the championship match.
Junior Colleen Winter posted a team-high 16 kills and 26 digs. Her teammate Ishi Ballew tallied 11 kills. Another noteworthy performance was sophomore Nicole Hodman’s team season-high and career-high 30 digs.
Such stellar performances can be attributed to the addition of two new assistant coaches. Kara Liefer explained that this “allows each coach to work with their individual players, and to work with their special positional training.”
Practicing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, from 5:30 until 8:00 p.m., the team continues to train for its future competitions. Next weekend, the Bears will travel to the UAA Round Robin Tournament in Rochester, NY.
Liefer and her teammates are excited about going on the road, as most of their tournaments are held at home. One more tournament will be held at Washington University in three weeks.
“The team this year has five returning starters and a new setter,” explains sophomore Megan Houck. She notes that after learning to play with a new setter, “[the team has] improved greatly over the past two months.”
Facing some of the best D-III teams in the country, Liefer said it was important that “everyone pull together.” Such unity will enable the team to compete into the post-season, which begins at the end of November.
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