Despite facing adversity, the IUS Volleyball team defeated Oakland City University on Oct. 5 in the Activities Building.
The Grenadiers lost Lindsey Ragland, sophomore right-side hitter, due to illness and hospitalization just two hours before the match.
Despite the unexpected lineup change, the Grenadiers defeated the Mighty Oaks 25-20, 25-13, 25-18 and 25-18. The win takes the Grenadiers to 13-9 for the season.
“I thought they really stepped it up and did a good job tonight,” Lesley Drury-Prather, IUS Volleyball head coach, said. “They knew they had adversity facing them without Lindsey, so I think they knew other people had to pick up their game.”
Due to the absence of Ragland, Emily Knight, sophomore defensive specialist, was moved to libero, and Lauren McCartin, junior libero, was moved to front row.
“It was a pretty interesting game tonight,” McCartin said. “I had to step up and play front row all the way around, and it wasn’t too bad.”
The Grenadiers’ offense dominated the Mighty Oaks with a match-high of 13 kills from Lindsey Maymon, sophomore outside hitter, and 11 kills from Julie Roeder, freshman outside hitter.
McCartin stepped up and added three kills, three assists and seven digs to the match.
“We moved our libero up to hit, and she did a really good job,” Drury- Prather said. “I also think Julie Roeder did a really good job tonight because she doesn’t play back row for us normally, and she did an excellent job.”
Along with her 11 kills, Roeder also added nine defensive digs and three service aces to the match.
“We really came out as a team and fought together, and the other team made a lot of mistakes,” McCartin said.
Drury-Prather said she credits the win to the team’s effective serving, with 10 service aces for the match.
“Aggressive serving was the key in the three sets that we won,” Drury-Prather said. “Our passing was what killed us in that third set.”
Despite dropping the third set, Roeder had nine defensive digs, followed by Knight with eight digs.
“We started out kind of slow trying to get the groove of things and trying to get everybody in normal rotation since things were moved around a little bit,” McCartin said. “Once we got the hang of it, it wasn’t really that bad.”
Katie Johnson, freshman setter, said she was pleased with her team’s performance during the match and the season overall.
“The game went really well, and we came out and fought really hard,” Johnson said. “I think this season has gone really well, especially for being a building season.”
Drury-Prather said she has been pleased with her team’s play so far this season.
“I am really proud of our team,” Drury-Prather said. “Our success has been good, but I think that the team coming together and playing together is what makes me most proud.”
The Grenadiers stepped up, played together and pulled out a win against the Mighty Oaks without the presence of one of their key players.
“We really wanted to come out and win,” McCartin said. “We wanted to show our coach that no matter what changes and who is here or not here, that we can still step up and win.”
By NIKOLETTE
LANGDON
Staff
nlangdon@umail.iu.edu
