Lawrence volleyball turns their season around.
Photo by Tia Colbert
This past weekend of Midwest Conference matches was another successful one for our volleyball players. Their winning streak has propelled them into this month with the right mindset to come out on top. The match on Friday, Oct. 14 against Lake Forest ended 3-1.They started rough, losing the first set 23-25, but then came back, winning the other three sets with good leads.
Notable players with great kills, digs and aces include sophomore Arianna Neumeyer with 18 kills and two service aces, freshman Rachel Barthel with nine kills, and sophomore Claire Vinpol with seven. Junior Lauren Ray had 23 assists, and junior Sydney Nelson had 14 against Lake Forest, with 35 assists. Junior Cyra Bammer added 15 digs.
The very next day started against the Ripon redhawks. They started strong with a lead of 25-23, and then got a bit overconfident, losing the second set 25-27. The Vikings had to fight for every point; each team fought for that last point before the set ended. But, the Vikings came back rejuvenated after that set and won both succeeding sets, in the last one starting off strong with 6-0, and then finishing with a 10-point lead, 25-15.
Overall the Vikings ended the game with a total of 14 aces. In an interview with junior Coleen Nowlan, who played well in both games, she expressed her satisfaction with the games that weekend, saying “It was kind of a rough start in that second set, but I think we did exactly what we needed to do in order to finish strong.” She also believed that winning the game Friday helped Saturday’s outcome: “Last night’s game, winning, really helped us build the momentum today, to get ready, and know that we can fight for a spot in the conference tournament.” Vinpol added 11 kills and sophomore Rachael Wuensch had 10 kills, two blocks, seven digs and an ace, and Neumeyer did an exceptional job with 22 kills,four aces and 18 digs. Barthel added 12 digs, three aces, and nine kills, and Ray came in with 30 assists, 13 digs and four aces. Nelson had 22 assists, six digs and two aces and Cyra Bammer had 28 digs.
With five straight conferences matches under their belt, the Vikings now hold a standing of 10-12 overall. This team is going to end the season with quite a few wins under their belt. Coming up are some away games at Grinnell on the 21st and Cornell on the 22nd.