by J.R. Gonsalves
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne women’s volleyball team suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday night against California State University at San Bernardino. This was the first match of the season for the Leopards, and they were a little rusty.
“I wasn’t completely un-satisfied,” said head coach Jim Paschal. “The team hadn’t played on the court together since November of last year.”
The Leopards haven’t played together in almost a full year, a long time to have off as a team.
San Bernardino never let the Leopards settle into the game. Whenever ULV would press to try and take a game, San Bernardino would come up with a big stop.
“We need to learn to play technical volleyball,” said sophomore Allison Moore, who led the team with four solo blocks. Moore also added four kills on five attempts and led La Verne with an .800 hitting percentage.
ULV out blocked San Bernardino 15-13 and had more kills with 20, compared to San Bernardino’s 15.
“We were not keeping up with the pace of the game,” said sophomore Sarah Henry, who led the Leopards with 7 kills. Henry also had four block assists.
In game one when sophomore Lynsey Best got a little rattled, freshman Amy Brummel was substituted for Best. Brummel came in and did a solid job, with 6 kills, which was second only to Henry.
“Amy Brummel really stepped up and put balls away when we needed it,” said senior setter Mercury Simonian, who contributed to La Verne’s effort with two service aces.
In game one, La Verne was down 11-3 and came back to tie, but eventually lost 15-11. “It shows a lot of character not to give up,” said Simonian.
The team was a little nervous due to the fact that it was the first game of the season, not to mention the fact that it was at home.
“I felt anxious,” said Simonian.
The Leopards serving was a positive statistic, as they out served San Bernardino with seven aces to three.
Don Flora, assistant coach, stressed the importance of defense and coverage to winning games. ULV will take that advice on the road where they play their next opponent in a Washington University tournament in St. Louis Missouri. La Verne’s next home match will be against Master’s College on Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
