The Northland International University team started play against the
UW Marathon Huskies, the 2010 WJCAA state champion, on Thursday. The Pioneers
got swept 15–25, 13–25, and 21–25. Coach Herron confronted the team in practice about
the proper response to athletic adversity and teammates days before. Coach Herron said, “The team
was really disconnected from each other. The super competitive ones got quiet,
and the others weren’t quite sure how to act. The better team won, and we made
them look like state champs again. It was not a good effort on our part.”
On
Friday and Saturday, Northland competed in the North Central Region (NCCAA) Challenge
at North Central University in Minneapolis. The Lady Pioneers first took on the
NC regional favorite, Providence College from Canada. With a lineup much bigger
than the Pioneers, Northland battled the team from north of the border. Set scores
were 25–19, 25–27, 22–25, and 17–25. “We competed much better than the night
before, and the players connected with each other. There was an understanding
that we are all focused on team success. We still need a couple of players to
ready themselves to meet the pressures of competition,” summarized Coach
Herron. The match seemed to turn when back-to-back serves were missed by
returning players. The second match of the Friday competition had the Pioneers
battling the eagles from Faith Baptist Bible College. The Eagles won the first
two sets 19–25 and 21–25, and Northland was not in sync. The third set had the Pioneers
take their first lead at 10–9. They gave that up and found themselves down
20–23. A Brittany Scott kill followed by one from Abi Walker got the Pioneers
close at 23–24. Good defense forced some hitting errors by the Eagles, and set
point was in the Pioneer hand at 26–25. Melissa Moissant missed a crucial serve,
and the score was tied at 26–26. The team hung tough though and defended the unique Eagle offense and converted points for a 28–26 win. In set four Ellie
Hodak took a 12–8 score and served her team to an 18–8 lead. A couple of
Brittany Scott kills increased the margin to 20–9, and Northland rolled to a 25–10 win.
Set four had Northland hold the momentum to an 8–5 lead on the court switch. Ellie Hodak
contributed consecutive kills and an ace to get Northland to a 14–12 lead; then
Brittany Scott ended the comeback with a kill to win 15–12. Abi
Walker said afterward, “That was so enjoyable to work hard, hang in together,
and win with a huge comeback!”
On
Saturday morning Northland had a match with the host Rams at NCU. The home team was
very motivated to avenge a loss just a couple of weeks ago at Northland. The Rams
were without their starting setter and RS hitter. The Lady Pioneers met the
challenge and played very strong defense and won the first two sets 25–23 and
25–19. All was good until the libero watched balls hit the floor, and the
Pioneers handed the momentum back to the NCU team while losing set three
15–25. “We are not good enough to relax. I have players that need to learn how
to focus and to enjoy rather than just have fun and make careless mistakes!” The
host Rams found life and took a 16–20 lead in the fourth set. Brittany Scott
exhorted her teammates to “make your play.” Ellie Hodak took the challenge and
started putting balls away at the net on the attack. With the Pioneers down
17–21, a time-out was taken, and Coach Herron encouraged the team to care about
your teammates in the way you play . . . make your teammate look good! Northland closed
the gap to 20–22. An Ellie kill got it to 22–22. An NCU hitting error gave the
lead to Northland, 23–22. Beth Leeds blocked a ball, and Ellie Hodak swung for match
point, 25–22.
The
last match of the weekend was against the Lions from Trinity Bible College from
North Dakota. With a finely focused determination to finish and move on, Northland won
25–14, 25–14, and 25–10. Northland had 12 service aces and played great defensive
conversion getting 35 kills. Ellie Hodak had 8, Brittany Scott had 7, and Beth Leeds
had 10.The team had 21 digs as well.
Coach Herron summarized, “I am very happy with the direction of the team; they
understand the need to fight, focus, and fervently pursue every ball. We have a
good stretch of matches coming up, and we are hoping to have some rhythm going
into the regional tournament at the end of the month.” The Pioneers travel to
Gogebic Community College on Tuesday, to Maranatha on Thursday, and
to Mt. Mary on Friday. Beginning October 12, the Lady Pioneers will be
home for two straight weeks of home matches before the Midwest Regional Tournament
in Lansing, Michigan, on October 29–30.