The 2010
women’s volleyball team at Northland International University opened the competitive part of their schedule with an
extended road trip that called for four matches in three days. The trip stared on
Wednesday afternoon, August 25, with a travel day and then matches on Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday.
Thursday, August 26 – IUNW, 3–2
A match in Gary, Indiana, against
Indiana University Northwest was the first scheduled contest for the Lady
Pioneers. IUNW is an NAIA opponent that has been a tough draw for Northland.
“They recruit quality athletes with scholarship talent, and it is a good
indicator of where we need to get to,” noted Coach Herron. The Pioneers
appeared to be outmatched at almost every position against the Redhawks. An
injury to one of the Pioneer starters caused Coach Herron to change the
line-up at the last minute. “I thought this was going to be a real good test
for us with players having to flip positions at the last minute. They dealt
with it in a fantastic way. The Lady Pioneers won the match by scores of 25–14, 9–25, 25–21, 18–25,
and 15–7. Brittany Scott and Eli Hodak were the best point scorers with 8 and
14 kills respectively. This was a great team win where each player made some
plays for the victory.
Friday, August 27 – GBC, 3–0; MBI, 0–3
After a short night of travel for
accommodations, Northland drove to Lansing, Michigan, for the Great Lakes Christian
College Labor Day Classic. The first opponent for them was Grace Bible College.
“I really was unsure of how we would do because I know what we lost from our
line-up and what GBC added to theirs,” noted Coach Herron. Brittany Scott, Abi
Walker, and Ellie Hodak led the way offensively and defensively to get a
25–22, 25–21, and 25–14 win. Ellie Hodak played particularly well, collecting 8
kills and 11 digs. Abi Walker added 26 assists. The next match of the day was
with Moody Bible Institute. The last time these teams met was in the 2009
Midwest Regional where Northland upset the #3 ranked Archers. “I tried to get my
returners ready to meet their returner’s motivation to play,” encouraged Coach
Herron. Northland played well enough in the first set to get leads of 15–12, 19–15, and
24–20 only to lose 25–27. The Pioneers worked hard to get a lead, and then the
momentum switched dramatically as the Archers won the next two sets 25–15 and
25–13. Captain Brittany Scott commented afterward, “It was frustrating to get
to the point of ‘we could have won’ and then to slip to ‘we should have won.’ If
had made a few more plays when we needed to, we would have won!” Coach Herron
was proud of freshmen Brittany Cournoyer, Jennifer Smith, and Lauren Mullahy for
their contribution and readiness to go. Coach Herron summarized to this point
of the weekend, “We have great potential for improvement. Our line-up will
settle in; players must be dissatisfied with their performance to the point of
wanting to go back to the practice court to better themselves as players.”
Saturday, August 28 – GLCC, 3–0
On the last day of the weekend, the
Pioneers drew the home team in an 11:30 a.m. match. Northland entered with a 2–1 match
record while GLCC came in at 1–1. The Lady Pioneers were determined to play
strong and leave Lansing on a winning note. Set one had Northland garner a 15–4 lead
with Ellie Hodak serving. Strong conversion had the lead increased to 22–8 with
Chelsea Behn getting some key blocks. Abi Walker scored a kill down the line to
take the first set 25–8. Set two had the Pioneers continuing to control play
as they jumped to a 15–6 lead and carried that to 23–8. Ellie Hodak put set
two away with a line shot for a 25–8 win. Set three had GLCC take a stand on
defense and threw some shots, tips, and rolls at the Northland side. The score was
17–14 when Coach Herron called a timeout and encouraged the Northland side forward.
“We can’t win playing that style; if we try we will lose since they are better at it
then us. Control the ball and swing to win!” With the score at 22–21, the
Pioneer side closed the match with a Brittany Scott kill, a service ace, and
another Brittany Scott kill to win 25–21. The win secured a second place finish
for Northland. Brittany Scott and Ellie Hodak were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Lady Pioneers will travel to Emmaus
College on Thursday, September 2, for a 4 p.m. match and then move on to Ankey, Iowa, for the
Spikefest at Faith Baptist Bible College on the weekend of September 3–4.