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Photo by Brett Stanley/ The Advocate
MHCC freshman libero Kelsey Kai (left) has been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. Players Taylor Canoso (3) and Kyra Speer (8) have developed flu-like symptoms. The women’s volleyball team has 10 players out with flu-like symptoms.
The past week has been a rough one for the Saints volleyball team, with losses in the Pierce Crossover Tournament followed by nearly the entire team landing on the sick list.
“Our whole team except two are out and sick,” said Head Coach Chelsie Freeman. “Even my assistant (Stephanie Alleman) is sick.”
Freeman said problems started before last weekend’s tournament. Last Friday, the team met in the athletics parking lot and libero Kelsey Kai showed up with what Freeman described as a cough and stuffy nose.
“She played and struggled obviously because she was sick,” said Freeman.
“After the tournament when we got back, Kelsey tested positive for swine flu.”
As of Thursday morning, the only MHCC players without the flu or flu-like symptoms were setter Liz Williams and middle blocker Audrianna Patterson, Freeman said.
According to Freeman, the players can’t actually be tested for the H1N1 virus due to money.
“Part of the problem is that it costs a lot of money to get tested for swine flu and the girls can’t afford it,” said Freeman.
The Advocate attempted to contact the other teams in the Pierce tournament — including Chemeketa, Pierce, Olympic, Tacoma, Walla Walla and Everett community colleges — to see if their players were infected but the phone calls were not returned.
In the Pierce Crossover Tournament, the Saints struggled from start to finish. The Saints finished with an overall record of 2-5, with wins over Everett and Olympic, who are sixth and seventh, respectively, in the NWAACC Northern Region.
Starting off round robin play against Walla Walla, the Saints won the first set but lost the next two to lose the match. The Saints then beat Everett in two sets. Next the Saints faced off against the Chemeketa Storm, who the Saints beat earlier in the regular season in five sets, but this time they lost in two sets.
The Saints beat Olympic but followed with a loss against Pierce Saturday morning to wrap up round robin play. The Saints started the tournament proper against Chemeketa, and the Storm won again, ousting the women from the tournament. MHCC freshman Kyra Speer and Hailey Leithem earned all-tournament team honors.
“We were really close in that (second) match against Chemeketa,” said Freeman. “We were in that match but then just gave up. We should have beat them.”
As for this week, the Saints had to reschedule Wednesday’s match against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners because all but two team members were sick. The match will be played Wednesday at 7 p.m. at MHCC.
“I hate rescheduling games but it is kind of out of my control. We just need to get healthy, but we still plan on playing this Friday and Saturday,” said Freeman.
With the Saints hoping to be healthy enough to play, the women will travel today to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg for a 7 p.m. match. The women also compete Saturday against Southwestern Community College in Coos Bay at 1 p.m.
During Halloween weekend (Oct 30 and 31), the Saints will host the Dorian Harris Halloween Classic in the MHCC gym.
With the team being sick and unable to practice, Freeman said she is worried about how her team will play this weekend. “Of course I am really worried with us not practicing this week and playing,” said Freeman.
Freeman said she is also worried about her team losing their undefeated record of 5-0 in the Southern Region.
“I usually never really think about it,” said Freeman. “I worry about the team. With how we are playing right now and how healthy we are, it will be tough. We still have to face off against Chemeketa and Clackamas one more time and they are really tough. It will still be a hard road for us to go undefeated.”
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