Roger An
Contributing Writer
The Fighting Scots Volleyball Team traveled to Springfield, Oh. this past Saturday to face the undefeated Wittenberg Tigers on their home court.
In the first set, Wittenberg jumped to an early lead, taking the first nine points until a bad set by Wittenberg’s Karen Wildeman ’19 gave the Scots their first point, shortly after by their second, a kill from Eleri Miller ’19, and their third, a kill by Marija Cyvas ’19.
Miller and Cyvas would collect another kill apiece, followed shortly after by a block from team co-captain Ksenia Klue ’18 and Ashley Plassard ’19, giving the Scots some life as they trailed 15-6 in the set. The Scots would add more kills after that, including one by Klue and one by Erica Roberts ’20, but that was not quite enough as the Tigers took the first set.
The second set was started by Cyvas’s third kill of the day, giving the Scots their first set lead on the day. After a trio of attack errors on Wooster’s part, Gabrielle Basinski ’19’s dig facilitated a block on Plassard and Miller’s part. Basinski followed that up with yet another dig, leading to an attack error on the Tigers’ part, making the score 5-5. The Tigers started to falter on their hot streak. Later in the set, they proceeded to rack up three consecutive attack errors, tying the score at 13. The Tigers swept the rest of the set, taking a streak of the next 12 points.
In the third set, after the Scots dropped the first point, Plassard slammed her third kill of the day and tied up the score. The set went back and forth, tied at 7-7, until Wittenberg took four of five points, bringing the score to 12-7. Miller shortly followed that with a kill of her own to make the score a bit tighter. That was as close as the Scots would get, as Wittenberg would pull away by 10. The score was 25-15 at the set’s end; a disappointing result, but a very hard-fought game.
Some notable statistics of the day included Klue’s team-high six kills and Cyvus’s efficient five kills over 11 swings, while Basinski led the defense with eight digs.
“We went into the match having nothing to lose. We played hard as a team for many points of the match, yet the higher level of play just didn’t make it,” Klue remarked. The team’s other co-captain, Taylor Matthews ’18, remarked, “We had our moments of everyone clicking together, but it just wasn’t enough to win. Wittenberg is the number one Division III team in the nation, so that’s very intimidating going into the match. But we had our moments playing with them instead of being so intimidated. At the beginning of each set, it was a close game and we played with them until about point 15, give or take. It was a rough game for sure, but it showed us what we can do and how well we can actually play as a team.”
Wooster will be honoring its two seniors, Klue and Matthews, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, for Senior Night when they host Denison University.