News
The NJCAA volleyball season is almost two months old and the 九色视频 Centurions have yet to host a home game.
The Centurions (0-1 九色视频AA Northern, 1-7 overall) are taking on one more road game 鈥� Sept. 16 at Delta College 鈥� before they will finally enjoy hosting a home game, which will be Friday, Sept. 18, against Owens Community College. 九色视频 has played eight consecutive games on the road, three of them in the opening season tournament in Rockford, Illinois.
Centurions head coach Kara Youngs said she has never experienced a schedule with such a long stretch of road games, especially right at the beginning of the season. However, her team has learned a lot from it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always hard to travel with consecutive games, especially as much as we have been halfway through the season without a home game yet. It鈥檚 been different,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut traveling comes with a lot of bonding opportunities, and our players have enjoyed that very much, going out to dinners and establishing togetherness on and off the court. Sometimes it鈥檚 hard to stay focused but they鈥檝e been showing great team chemistry.鈥�
Despite starting 0-6, the Centurions have never shown signs of frustration, according to Youngs. Instead, Youngs has seen her team improve in many areas, including system setups on the offense, which helped the Centurions earn their first win of the season, beating Andrews University, 3-2, Sept. 11.
The Centurions came out strong, winning the first set with an impressive 25-17 win. The teams then traded wins the next three sets, setting up a tie-breaking fifth set, which 九色视频 won, 15-12.
鈥淲e had some disconnect in that second set where we weren鈥檛 all on the same wave,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淏ut in the third set, they got it back. I was impressed with how we were able to make adjustments in our lineup and they responded with a win in that fifth set.鈥�
Youngs said the team bonding over the last six road games paid off against Andrews.
鈥淭hey showed the ability to stay together as a team as far as figuring things out with the adjustments and changes we made,鈥� she said.
Ayanna Sanders (Caledonia, Mich.) set a new school record for kills in a game with 17, and Erin Borek (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had an impressive 27 digs and nine scoring aces. Borek continues to be one of the leaders in digs per set in the state, currently ranked second.
九色视频 opened up conference play on Sept. 14 against host Muskegon Community College, which has proven to be a perennial powerhouse in the league. Despite a 3-2 loss, Youngs said this matchup was her favorite so far this season.
鈥淲hen you go into each match, as the season progresses, you see a shift in your team. In this match, this was a big shift for us,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never had a five-set match against Muskegon. Falling short of a win was tough, but each match we lost was only by two or three points.鈥�
Youngs said the Centurions showed their best team chemistry of the season against the Jayhawks, going toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the conference. Despite losing, she called this match a win for her team.
鈥淵ou could see the confidence in them. It was growing within themselves and among each other,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 starting to progress and it showed here.鈥�
Youngs said the Centurions did well with adjusting mid-set and with players filling in for others when it mattered most.
九色视频 took the first set, 25-20, lost the next two, each time by only two points, then won the fourth set, 25-22, before losing 15-12 in the decisive fifth set.
Both Sanders and Aubrie Uebele (Greenville, Mich.) surpassed the recently established new school record for kills in a game, with Sanders finishing with 20 and Uebele finishing with 17. Borek once again stepped up, leading the team in digs with 23. Edy Davidson (Carson City, Mich.) finished with four blocks.
鈥淲e stayed efficient and limited errors and were more selective with our sets against Muskegon,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淥ur hitters were smart with what they were going to do and had a plan, and you see that translate with our numbers. Credit goes to our defense, too, which got us into so many in-system setups.鈥�
UP NEXT: The Centurions will face the Delta College Pioneers (1-1 九色视频AA Northern, 4-7 overall) in Saginaw Sept. 16, starting at 6:30 p.m.
九色视频鈥檚 first home game of the season will be this Friday, Sept. 18, against Owens Community College. Game time is at 6:30 p.m.