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Photo by Mick Eagleson/ The Advocate
MHCC freshman Kyra Speer spikes the ball during the home victory last Friday against Umpqua in three sets. Speer had 14 kills and hit .308 in the match. With the win, the Saints improved their record to 3-0 and are in a tie with Clackamas Community College for the lead in the Southern Region. The Saints take on the Linn-Benton Roadrunner’s in Albany tonight.
Women swing back
after rough tournament
The Advocate
Overcoming a shaky start to the 2009 season, the MHCC volleyball team has worked its way into a first-place tie with Clackamas in the Southern Region with a 3-0 league record and 15-4 overall.
“We started this season with a lot of ups and downs,” said Head Coach Chelsie Freeman. “But we have figured some things out this past week and I think we are ready to play consistently.”
Last weekend, the Lady Saints hosted Umpqua Community College Friday night and won in three sets (25-14, 25-20, 25-15). On Saturday, the women hosted Southwestern Community College and again won in three sets (25-11, 25-14, 25-18).
“I am excited for us winning both matches,” said Freeman. “I expected us to play at a high level and we did just that.”
The women had strong performances from their outside hitter Kyra Speer in both matches. “Kyra had 14 kills for us and hit .308 against Umpqua but we also had big performances from our libero Kelsi Kai, who had 15 digs,” said Freeman.
Freeman said big performances were also turned by setter Esmeralda Orozco, who had 29 assists, and sophomore Kelsey Bordewyk, who had eight kills and hit .538.
In the SWOCC match, Speer also hit .519 with 17 kills and eight digs while Orozco had 25 assists and hit .300 for the Lady Saints.
Freeman said she is concerned about tonight’s game against the Linn-Benton Community College Roadrunners.
“We only had six of our girls at practice today,” Freeman said Wednesday. “We are sick and missing key players from our team right now.”
She said Haley Leithem, the “heart and soul of the team,” went down and definitely affected how the women played Friday and Saturday.
“Our DH (designated server) got tonsillitis and it definitely affected us by not talking out on the court. But we, as a team, had a talk and Saturday we were much better communicating.”
In addition to missing the team’s vocal leader, three other teammates are down with the flu going. “I had to cancel Monday’s practice,” said Freeman.
“Both our middle blockers are out and we need them back. They are our only middles.”
To make matters worse, freshman setter Taylor Canoso pulled a hip muscle and will be out for two weeks.
“Right now these injuries are definitely hurting us,” said Freeman. “But we should be able to fight through it.”
In tonight’s 7 p.m. match in Albany against Linn-Benton, the Lady saints face a squad that is 0-2 in the Southern Region and 6-13 overall. But despite their record, Freeman said they should not be overlooked.
“They took Chemeketa to five sets,” said Freeman. “They have had some close matches so we definitely need to be prepared.
Freeman said her team’s early-season losses have helped the women come together after talking about issues happening on the court during the game.
“We had a lot of girls pulling away from each other because they would get frustrated over an error they made,” said Freeman. “But we talked and have resolved the issues and are ready to go out there and be a strong team on the court.”
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