Women's Volleyball wins in home opener versus UMBC

Freshman Outside Hitter Morghan Martin spikes home a point for the Patriots Tuesday night for a 3-2 win over UMBC (photo by Dakota Cunningham).

The women’s volleyball team did not disappoint in their home opener Tuesday night, facing the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers (2-3) at the RAC in front a supportive home crowd. The match was a nail-biter and had tilted in a not-so-desirable direction at one point, but at the end Mason defeated the Retrievers 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-11).

The Retrievers showed their full potential from the very beginning by winning five of the first seven points, and three of the next four, they forced coach Pat Kendrick to call a timeout with Mason trailing 8-3. A 5-1 run by the Patriots (1-2) cut UMBC’s lead to one at 8-9, but the Retrievers quickly responded with a run of their own, stretching the score to 16-11. After another timeout, Mason opened up a 10-4 run to take their first lead at 21-20.  A combination of great defensive plays and accuracy in attack were followed by a monstrous kill from freshman Morghan Martin which bagged the first set for the Patriots 25-22.

After both teams exchanged points to start the second set, the Retrievers went on a 4-0 run to grab an early 6-3 lead. The lead later grew to six at 13-7 but a push from the Patriots forced UMBC’s coach to call a timeout at 14-11. This was the key moment of the set for after the timeout the Retrievers shut out the Patriots to tie the match at one set all.

After losing the first two points of the third set, Mason tied it at two all only to fall into a slump and win only one of the following seven points, giving their opponents a comfortable six-point lead. The lady Patriots’ heroics in the minutes that followed paid off and they managed to tie the set at 16-16 but, they had no answer to the Terriers’ late 9-2 run which gave them the lead in the match at two sets to one.

Although they lost the first four points of the fourth set, the Patriots showed that they were still very much in the match by winning the next nine and thus taking control of the tempo. However, they did give their fans a few scares. The Patriots squandered a three-point lead that allowed UMBC to tie the set at 16 and later let the Retrievers come within one at 23-22. The Mason defense redeemed itself with two back-to-back blocks to send the match into a tie-breaker.

The fifth set featured four ties and three lead changes and thus set the culmination point of the drama that the crowd had to endure during the match. Although Mason found itself trailing 8-6 midway through the final set, after the teams switched sides, they managed to make a 5-1 run which gave them a comfortable two-point lead (11-9) going into the final third of the tie-breaker. Two UMBC timeouts within a minute of each other couldn’t deny but only postponed the lady Patriots’ first win of the season.

The Mason attack was led by redshirt freshman Lolade Owokoniran who registered 13 kills with a .333 attacking percentage and junior Laura Spencer who contributed 12 kills on a .257 hitting percentage. Spencer was also one of the Patriots who recorded double figures in digs (13). She was joined by classmates Lana Zonjic (13) and Tori Price (12), as well as freshman Bernetta Moore (21). Price also accounted for 52 assists.

Upon entering the RAC gym on Tuesday night, the reality of starting with two losses didn’t seem to be present among the group of girls who were smiling, chatting light-heartedly while warming up and some even singing along with the popular songs that filled the air prior to the match. Regarding that matter, junior Laura Spencer explained that results are not what coaches are looking at that early in the season.

“During practice yesterday [Monday] the coaches kept telling us to stay positive and that the losses last weekend weren’t a big deal…and that it’s just about improving every game.”

Spencer includes this lack of pressure to achieve specific results in the list of reasons why the team performed better on Tuesday than it did in the D.C. Volleyball Challenge hosted by American University last weekend.

Just like the middle-blocker, coach Kendrick saw improvement in her team’s performance, but also paid close attention to the aspects of the game that needed some work.

“I thought we had more runs where the passes were pretty good…we still have to run on our sideout game, being able to put the ball away after we get a good pass…[but] when we ran the ball through the middle we were successful...”

This season the Patriots will be looking to improve on their tenth-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association conference last season. To be more competitive, the team has brought in freshman middle-blocker Meredith Bush, libero Bernetta Moore, outside hitter Morghan Martin, and right side hitter Isabella Zaliagiris. Although key figures in their previous teams, these ladies will have to face an entirely new level of competition this season. Martin knows that and picks up on every little piece of advice given to her by coaches or returning players.

“I am nowhere near where I need to be… the biggest thing that I have heard from a lot of coaches is ‘slow down.’ I am fast and out of control sometimes and it’s a complete chaos, but in the chaos I have to learn to slow my body down and things will come out right… I strive for the best, [I] never settle.”

Mason will be hosting the Patriot Invitational at the RAC this weekend. West Virginia, Navy, Niagara University, and the University of South Carolina will also participate. The lady Patriots open their tournament play at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Niagara.