versus
Live volleyball, bay-bee. Tonight I took in my first in-person match of 2013, the rivalry match between my alma mater Western Washington Vikings and the Central Washington Wildcats. It's always a big match when Western and Central lock horns, regardless of the sport, regardless of the night.
It was a pretty nice crowd, albeit a touch late-arriving. With only moments until the match began, the crowd was but half of what it eventually became.
Along with it being my first live match of 2013, it was also my first live match as part of Bloguin. As such, I tried to toss around what little weight I could, by dropping that name to ask for some flash interviews with people. I first caught up with Central Washington head coach Mario Andaya.
The Net Set: Here with Central head coach Mario Andaya. Coach, can you identify some of your impact players for tonight's match?
Mario Andaya: We've got some good seniors, Erin Smith and Emmy Dolan, they've kinda been our leaders this year. Hopefully they come through and have a big impact tonight.
TNS: What's it like coming up to Western for the rivalry game?
MA: It's always a big game, no matter what time of year it is or what sport. It's a fun deal, and we look forward to it.
TNS: Thanks a lot, and good luck tonight.
I took notes from my 'best seat in the house' perch (top row, right on the net….only better spot would be the up ref's stand) all night, beginning with before the match. I noticed the PA guy going over to talk to Andaya as well as Western's head coach Diane Flick. Longtime readers know that I've ridden this guy pretty hard in the past (I used to do PA myself), but I had no problems with him tonight and I liked seeing him have a chat with the coaches before match time. It's something I always did myself. It's more important to talk to the visiting coach, to get pronunciations clear and find out if anyone didn't make the trip, but it's good to know if there's anything the home coach can tell you too, to improve your craft. Or even if it's just a "good luck tonight" visit. Nothing wrong with that. So the guy got my respect for doing that. Maybe I'm just used to him now.
During warmups, second-string Wildcat setter Leanna Carr did what David Letterman might call a "Stupid Human Trick." While peppering with a teammate, she dove for a wayward ball and didn't quite pancake it. It slid along her back, and she caught it between her knees. She then proceeded to stand up without dropping the ball or touching it with anything but her knees. Trust me, it was more impressive than I'm making it sound.
Then there were some 'fun' moments with the pep band. In a weird bit of timing, they finished a song right as Central's time to hold both sides of the court began (prior to 19 minutes before first serve, both teams may use the court — after that mark, they trade off every few minutes). And apparently they have a little ritual shout when this time begins. So the band, the WWU band I might stress, played their last note and the CWU team shouted. Just looked totally weird. A little while later the band and the piped-in music competed with each other for a good two minutes before the stereo finally got turned down. That pep band, they're sure tenacious, you gotta give 'em that.
Just before the match began, WWU redshirt outside hitter Haleigh Harrison sang the national anthem. She possesses an obviously well-trained soprano voice. She unintentionally changed keys a couple of times, once near the beginning of the song and once near the end, but it is damn hard to sing a cappella (in front of almost a thousand people) and not sound like a pile of garbage, so I was very impressed with how well she did. I wanted to congratulate her after the match and ask how long she'd been practicing, but I really couldn't remember what she looked like. I would have only identified her by jersey number, and when the players returned to the court after the match, not all of them still had their team gear on.
At that, the match began. The Wildcats scored the first point of the night with a nice left-side double block, but the Vikings quickly sided out in return, which led to a good service run for opposite hitter Jennica McPherson. CWU libero Kaely Kight was in good position to pass her first serve, opting to do so overhand, but she just….didn't. The ball hit Kight's hands and then fell straight down for an ace. McPherson's service run got the Vikings out to a 5-1 lead early, as Dolan and Smith committed the first few of many unforced hitting errors for the Wildcats on the night. It also prompted an early Wildcat timeout. A couple of sneaky tips by sophomore middle blocker Kaitlin Quirk got the Wildcats back within two at 6-4, but that's when the chain snapped. On the serve of All-American libero Samantha Hutchinson, the Vikings made it to 11-4, seizing control in the early going.
I couldn't help but notice the flagger made a really odd motion on the play ending 8-4, obviously a point for the Vikings. In signalling the kill, she held her flag at about a 90 degree angle. That….is not a sign. That does not mean anything. It's either sharply down for in-bounds, or straight up for out. Ever so slowly, she did lower the flag to signal point Western. I don't like to ride the officials (and I don't think this counts as riding), I just thought it looked really odd.
The errors piled up for Central as the set wore on. Coach Andaya was prompted into his second timeout of the set after a block party on the rally ending 16-8. His team fought back nicely, getting the sideout as Linden Firethorne's long hit found hands. Then setter Catie Fry snuck the ball in between some watching Vikings for a service ace. Smith and Dolan teamed up for a double block to make it 16-11, and I got to wondering when Coach Flick might call time. A little dump kill for Dolan made it 16-12, and still Coach Flick resisted calling time. Finally, after a McPherson hitting error closed the Wildcats to within three, she did expend one.
Rachel Roeder got the kill off the block and out to give the Vikings their much-needed sideout, sending middle blocker Emily Boerger, the Vikings' lone senior, back to serve. She nearly took the nose off the Wildcat libero Kight with her serve. It wasn't an ace, as Central did send the ball back over once, but they had nothing behind it, leading to a kill for McPherson from the right side.
Then after a few sideouts, the Vikings led 21-16. The Vikings' final four points of the set were all Wildcat attacking errors. Central had 11 for the first set, hitting a gruesome 9/11/37 as a team (.054 in the red). Western won the first set by 25-17.
Caught up with WWU head coach Diane Flick shortly after the match:
The Net Set: Coming into this season, with Laurie Yearout (fourth in school history in assists) and Marlayna Geary (second in school history in kills) lost to graduation, I actually thought you guys might regress a little. That has obviously not been the case. (ed note: WWU entered tonight's match with a 10-1 record and the #9 national ranking) What did I miss?
Diane Flick: Not much. I think Laurie and Marlayna did a good job of leaving a good legacy for us to build off of. We always said about Marlayna, she would average 5 kills a set, so I didn't expect anybody to come in and get 5 kills a set, I expected them to get 3. And then everyone else (must now) pick up their game by point five, and as you progress experience-wise that should be okay.
TNS: What's it like when Central comes to town, the big rivalry game? Gotta admit, the atmosphere seemed pretty normal to me tonight.
DF: Anytime it's Central, it's a big deal. This is our first weekend, with the crowd coming, our first home games. So I think in some ways, you still have the routine and all that stuff, but I think it was a great opportunity for (the students) to come out and see their team, and I think we put on a good one for 'em.
TNS: How far do you think this team can go?
DF: You know, it's hard to say. Where we're gonna go is to Lacey on Thursday. And that's all I know right now.
TNS: All right, thanks coach.
Lacey, Washington is the home of Saint Martin's University, WWU's next opponent. I even prefaced this question as I asked it to her with the expectation of a non-answer, and I sure got one. What can you say?
Onto set two we went. The Wildcats changed their rotation slightly, and it seemed to work out for them in the early going of set 2, as the score stayed close. I was impressed with Emily Cotter's effort to pancake save a quick hit on the rally ending 4-3, but the point still ended up going to Central, a kill for Firethorne. After a stretch of sideouts, the Wildcats ran the quick set to the middle with Smith on 8-6, and she hit way long. The Wildcats seemed sure they'd gotten hands, but there was no touch called, and WWU extended to a three-point lead for the first time in the set. Kills from Boerger and McPherson made it 11-6, and Andaya called his first timeout of the set.
Dolan got the Wildcats their sideout right away with a very smart shot getting through the block and down to bring us to 11-7. In amid a short strong of sideouts, CWU appeared to get away with four hits on the rally ending 12-8. It didn't look to me like the ball cleared the net after their first offensive attempt, but they played on and eventually won the rally. The next point on serve was the Wildcats', as Lindsey Milner's booming serve bounced off the WWU receiver and onto the retracted basketball backboard. It took the referees a moment to whistle the play dead, but yeah….ball hits the b-ball hoop, it's dead (the Vikings tried to play on for a moment).
That made it 14-11, and that's as close as the Wildcats got in the remainder of the set. A kill from Kayla Erickson and later a big double block by Boerger and Kelsey Moore put the Vikings in a commanding position. The 16-11 rally was the longest of the match, with multiple digs on both sides. At one point, Cotter came up with what was ruled as another pancake, though it looked down to me. Andaya obviously thought the same, as he leapt off his bench to protest. The play ended when back-row specialist Lauren Herseth just kind of collapsed (it's got to be tough to go full speed ahead for a solid minute-plus), leading to another Viking point. Later WWU libero Hutchinson got another pancake dig, that again caused Andaya to stand up and protest, though his side wound up winning that rally.
From 20-15 in Western's favour, Central only scored once more in the set. More attacking errors (of which there weren't nearly as many for Central in set 2, but boy were they timely) put us on the cusp of set point, which was a beauty. McPherson rotated back to serve with the Vikings up 24-16 and her lone necessary attempt found the court untouched to send the Vikings to the locker room in style.
Also had a quick chat with WWU assistant coach James Suh after the match.
The Net Set: James, tell me a little about what it's been like working with such a revered coach as Diane Flick over the years.
James Suh: It's been a great experience. She's taught me a lot, and she's been a mentor to me as well as a guru. She's great.
TNS: What's the big rivalry game with Central like?
JS: It's a good in-state rivalry. We're both good programs. Mario and his staff have done a terrific job in his tenure there. It's a good, competitive….there's competitiveness, but there's also that camaraderie of respecting their program for what they are, too.
TNS: Ever give any consideration to head coaching yourself? Can't imagine you've never been asked.
JS: Not too much yet. I'm happy where I'm at right now.
TNS: Great, thanks a lot.
The tone was set quickly in set three. Good, quick service runs for McPherson, Cotter, and Hutchinson had the Vikings out ahead 6-1 and 10-2, deficits which even as early as they are in the going are pretty much insurmountable. I liked the strategery shown by Western setter Taylor Dillard on the 8-2 rally, a very long one, as she went left to Erickson, then right to McPherson, then down the gut with her own attempt at a dump. None of those plays terminated the rally, but they had to keep the Wildcats guessing (the play eventually ended with a long hit on the Central side).
Both coaches emptied the benches a little as the set wore on. Kiah Jones got her only court time of the night for Central in the third, subbing in with the team down 10-2 and immediately getting a kill and sideout. A kill for Quirk and then a double block for Quirk and Rachel Hanses got the Wildcats within five at 10-5, but they came no closer. The Vikings put the hammer down with a 7-1 run that took us from 16-9 to 23-10. Only then did Andays make a sub that's archetypical of a team losing the battle — changing setters. In came Leanna Carr, to run the offence for the last few rallies of the night. Flick also gave the nod to freshmen Kelsey Fausko and Raney Lepper, the latter serving up match point. Central fought on admirably, digging Moore twice on the 24-11 rally, but eventually giving the point up anyway on a double-hit fault.
#9 Western Washington d. Central Washingon (25-17, 25-16, 25-11)
This wasn't anyone's idea of a competitive match. I definitely made the conscious choice to lob out softballs in my little 'flashes,' but had I had a more investigative hat on, I might have asked Andaya just what has gone wrong with his team this year. Here's a team who were nationally ranked to start the season, but now are floundering in what looks like a 2-bid GNAC. I'd be lying if I said I felt too bad for them — remember, I am a WWU alum — but it's not something you really ever hope to see.
Erickson led all scorers for the Vikings with 11 kills, on .526 hitting. Roeder hit an errorless .714, and Boerger and Moore's scoring lines were also in the stratosphere. Smith and Firethorne led the Wildcats with 6 kills each, but also had 11 attacking errors between them.
If I were to name a Woman of the Match, it'd be Jennica McPherson. I was really impressed with her play tonight, and I caught up with her for a moment just as I was leaving the gym.
The Net Set: I was really impressed with your play tonight, in all phases of the game — hitting, serving, passing, even some out-of-system sets. Clear something up for me — did you sub out even once tonight?
Jennica McPherson: Nope, I didn't.
TNS: Is that hard at all?
JM: I'm used to it. Used to going to my position, and doing everything….I'm pretty used to it. It's a norm now.
TNS: I thought you did well tonight in a lot of ways that maybe don't show up so much on the stat sheet. Keeping plays alive, making something out of nothing. It's not gonna light up the stat sheet the way Kayla Erickson or Emily Boerger or Kayla Moore will, but does that make any difference?
JM: Nope! Not as long as we win.
And win they did.
The Vikings next head out on the road, to face Saint Martin's and Western Oregon, while the Wildcats head home for three matches.
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