EUREKA, ILL. -- After a tough match that lasted late into the night Friday, Principia was back at it again at 10am against Eureka. Game one was a fight until the end. Eureka came out tipping at Prin, and it proved to be a good game plan as they had our team diving and clogging up the court to pick up the tips. Prin played tough and figured out how to alter their defense to turn their tips into our hard hits. Prin ended up on top in game one 25-23. Eureka didn't have much else up their sleeve, and Principia just kept getting stronger winning game two 25-8 and game three 25-7. The women served hard and played with good rhythm. The offense was well rounded with everyone killing the ball, and everyone got on the board for digs as well.
Christine Nacewicz and
Kiersten Andersen led the way with 14 and 10 digs respectively, and
Summer Switzer and
Tara Edwards were stellar from the service line combining for 5 aces and only 1 error.
Fast forward 30 minutes, and Principia is back on the court again against SLIAC 2010 champion Greenville. A weird turn in SLIAC scheduling had our second match of the season against Greenville only 4 days after the first meeting. Greenville is tough – no doubt about it! They came out on fire, hitting the ball hard from all over the court, serving the ball tougher than Principia has seen all year, and putting up impenetrable blocks. Whew! Their pace was frantic – a bit too much for Principia. It took two games of the fast power game before Prin was able to have “a say” in the pace. Smart play from
Kiersten Andersen got Principia's foot in the door as the team worked to make Greenville move from endline to net, and sideline to sideline – hoping to disturb their break neck pace. Principia won game three 25-22, and continued smart play in game 4. Their hearts were in it, but Greenville kept at it – finding their game in our pace. Game 4 had hope for Principia as we gained a 12-10 lead, but Prin committed a few too many unforced errors and Greenville kept pushing the envelope with Principia falling 19-25 in game four. Great gritty defense was seen as this Principia team hunkered down and learned how to dig some fantastic hits from Greenville. At first balls were pelting the floor, but by the end the women were figuring it out – keeping the ball flying longer and sacrificing their bodies to keep the ball off the floor. The defense at the net showed great boldness too. At the beginning of the match, it's like we weren't even putting up a block, but by the end we were ending points at the net. Coach Sprague commented, “This was a great match for Principia. They found the will to compete and learn from the match. Their mental strength showed great progress, and this is key as we move on.
This team sits at an unimpressive 5-10, but they are turning heads in the SLIAC. Going into the season with the preseason ranking of 7th, Principia has beaten the #4 and #5 picks in three straight games, and has taken games from the #1, #2, and #3 programs. Coach Sprague says, “we have plenty of work to do, but I certainly won't underestimate this group. They are a pleasure to work with.”
