Travis Marmon
Editor-in-Chief
The Wooster volleyball team had a rough start to the season last weekend as it dropped its first three matches at the Westminster Invitational Tournament in New Wilmington, Pa. The Fighting Scots were able to salvage a win against a conference opponent, closing out the tournament by beating Oberlin College 3-2.
Wooster’s first match came against Carnegie Mellon University, who dominated the first set 25-10. The Scots were more competitive after that, but the Tartans won relatively smoothly as the last three sets went 25-22, 23-25, 25-14 in their favor. Erica Skillman ’14 did the best job of filling a stat sheet, contributing nine kills, seven assists, six digs and two block assists.
The Scots were unable to win a set later that day against Baldwin-Wallace University, falling 25-20, 26-24, 25-23 to the Yellow Jackets. Skillman once again lead the team with eight kills, four digs and an assist. Paige Parker ’14 also had a strong performance, adding 11 digs, six kills and two block assists.
The action resumed Saturday as Wooster took on Penn State University Erie-Behrend. The Scots outplayed the Lions up front, earning 15 blocks to Behrend’s two, but the team ultimately fell 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-15, 25-18). Chelsea Magnusen was the Lions’ key player with 33 of her team’s 40 assists. This overshadowed strong performances from Lydia Webster ’17 (10 kills), Skillman (eight kills, 11 digs) and Parker (eight kills, five digs).
Wooster finally earned a win later on Saturday, although Oberlin gave the team a tough time during its 3-2 victory (25-19, 20-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-10). The Scots proved to be strong up front once again, out-blocking the Yeowomen 11-3.5. Zoe Zwegat ’14 was in on seven of those blocks. Skillman was the most productive offensive player with 18 kills and 14 assists. Rachel Sell ’15 had 25 of the team’s 41 assists while also earning nine digs.
Although the Oberlin match did not count as an NCAC game due to the tournament setting, it is a promising sign for how Wooster will look in conference play later this month. The Scots will have to overcome a difficult schedule to start the season, as they do not play a home game until Oct. 1. They played at Franciscan University of Steubenville on Wednesday after press time. This weekend they travel to Berea, Ohio to participate in the Marcia French Memorial Invitational, where they will take on Medaille College and Westminster College (Pa.). They will also have a rematch against host Baldwin-Wallace.
They look to take advantage of a number of upcoming games in their schedule to improve upon their current record of 1-3, building on the strong foundation of last season’s team, which went 18-14 overall and 4-4 in the conference, at one point winning five games in a row, a win-streak which barely surpassed their highest number of contiguous losses but which is impressive nonetheless considering the level of competition in the NCAC. The Wooster community can only hope they will do even better this season.