by Christine Owen
Managing Editor
In what may prove to be an indication of the rematch scheduled for this weekend’s ASICS tournament, the University of La Verne men’s volleyball team easily defeated Dominican University in straight sets on Wednesday night, 30-16, 30-21 and 30-19.
The Leopards began their first game with both a strong offense and defense that lasted through the remainder of the match.
“I think the guys realized that they have to play a mentally stronger game than we have been,” said ULV head coach Jack Coberly. “We have the physical tools on this team to do really, really well.”
After losing by a large point margin in the first game, Dominican began the second game with determination and returned a ULV opening serve to put the first point on the board. The two teams traded errors for points during the first half of the game until the Leopards went on a six-point run that put them ahead 24-15. From there, both teams scored six more points before the game ended.
“We hit a point in game two where we did have the momentum and we started putting balls down, started serving a little bit tougher, but we got tentative again,” said Dominican head coach Gregg Huckstadt.
Game three was just a quick walk in the park for La Verne as they finished off Dominican.
“We’ve been really working hard because we’ve lost a lot of games in a row and we’ve really been in a slump,” said junior middle blocker Tom Hilton. “I think this was a time to just let out a lot of aggression.”
Junior outside hitter Will Paulson led the Leopards with nine kills while sophomore outside hitter Jake Swann contributed six.
On Friday ULV will be hosting the ASICS La Verne Invitational tournament which will be attended by top Division III teams including No. 1 ranked New York University and No. 3 UC Santa Cruz. Dominican University will also be participating. All four teams will play each other over Friday and Saturday.
A victory over UCSC on Friday night is vital for the Leopards because otherwise “we have no chance of going to the National Championship,” said assistant coach Morgan Coberly. “We’re looking good right now if practice is any indication. The guys just have to go out there and do it now.”
ASICS La Verne Invitational Tournament
Friday
1 p.m. New York University vs. UC Santa Cruz
4 p.m. Dominican vs. New York University
7 p.m. UC Santa Cruz vs. La Verne
Saturday
1 p.m. La Verne vs. Dominican
4 p.m. Dominican vs. UC Santa Cruz
7 p.m. New York University vs. La Verne
