Injuries have been the story thus far for the Mt. Hood Community College volleyball team, but ever since the entire line up has been active, they haven’t lost.

They took Chemeketa down Wednesday night losing the first match, then sweeping the next three 27-30, 31-29, 30-26 and 30-28.

Within the span of a few weeks, the team suffered six injuries. The first injuries came in Arizona, where the team went at the beginning of the season to play on Sept. 9. They were able to compensate for these first injuries and still win games.

Head Coach Lena Chan said, “At the beginning when we just had a couple of injuries, we just put somebody in to that position that maybe wasn’t familiar with it but did a good job. We were winning at that point and could make it work.”

More injuries followed and the team was forced to play their injured players or else forfeit their matches. Chan said this affected the tempo at which the team was able to play at and caused them to perform at a level they didn’t want to be performing at.

“The injuries affected our lineup, where people played, and how we played. It wasn’t the quality of volleyball we needed to play and it was really frustrating to watch,” said Chan.
The game against Clackamas Oct. 12 was the first time the whole team was ready to play and then won with a strong performance. They are in third place in the NWAACC Southern Region after falling from the top spot due to injuries.

Following their win over Clackamas, Chan gave the team Friday and Saturday off in order for them to more fully recuperate so they would be ready for their matches against Chemeketa, Linn-Benton, and Southwest Oregon.

“We need to win all three of those to still have a chance to take second and then there’s a slight possibility, even with our losses, that we could still win the championship depending how everything turns out,” said Chan.

The volleyball team hosts number one Linn-Benton (7-2 and 25-7 overall) tonight. There have been no further injuries since the Clackamas game and the team will be playing their strong lineup.

Chan is optimistic about the match. “We’ve beaten them at home before with not as strong of a lineup. So if we play to our potential it will be a great match.”

The women won’t get much rest because tomorrow they will host SW Oregon, and depending on how tonight’s game goes the Saints could be bumbed up to second place in the Southern Region.

She also added, “We have the potential, so whether or not we bring it is the question. Time will tell over the next week or two if we’re going to be able to bounce back from the injuries.”