Volleyball

Montreat Volleyball demonstrates “Passion, Heart, and Desire”

On a bus ride home from one of their recent road trip games, freshman middle-blocker Allison Baumgartner took out her laptop and composed what Head Coach Leslie Gehris described as “a team challenge.” “Ally wrote a strong team challenge and shared it with her teammates. In short, she challenged her teammates to demonstrate passion, heart, and desire each and every play,” said Gehris. At this weekend’s Union College Volleyball Tournament, the Lady Cavs rose to their teammate’s challenge in what turned out to be a demanding test of conditioning. Playing five matches in two days was a major test of fitness for Montreat, with two matches going the brutal five-set distance. “I felt our girls played great and demonstrated how well-conditioned they are. Our first two matches were five-setters, and they really relied on their fitness.” Not only did they rely on their fitness, they called upon Baumgartner’s fervent words to keep their “passion, heart, and desire”- which are ingredients often needed to win most five-setters.

Montreat opened up action Friday morning against Brescia University, where the Lady Cavs won their first five-setter of the season, 30-24, 15-30, 17-30, 31-29, and 15-13. Lyndsey Wall and Emily Piccirillo offered the Lady Cavs 37 assists. Their favorite targets for the grueling match were Danny Bowers and Rebeka Henderson who tallied up 15 and 12 kills apiece. Defensively, Jessica Huntley led Montreat with 12 digs for the match.

Immediately following the Brescia match, Montreat once again hit the floor against Hannibal- La Grange College, winning another intense five-setter, 30-21, 23-30, 27-30, 30-21, and 17-15. “I felt the girls played this match as well as their first five-setter, which is a testament to their conditioning,” praised Gehris. Led once again by Bowers and Henderson, with 13 kills each, Montreat’s setter Lyndsey Wall, delivered 28 assists for the afternoon match.

Finally, in their third match of the night, Montreat fell to Mountain State in four games, 29-31, 24-30, 30-12, and 26-30. In this match, Ally Baumgartner demonstrated her team’s desire by having 12 blocks of her own.

In Saturday’s Quarterfinal Match, Montreat faced Indiana University-Southeast, falling again in four games, 30-28, 6-30, 18-30, and 19-30. Defensively, Jessica Huntley once again had a strong performance as she tallied 26 digs for Montreat. The Lady Cavs are now 5-9 overall and 1-4 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Montreat continues conference action this Tuesday against Virginia Intermont. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm.

Written By: jlarios
Posted By: Jose Larios
Date Posted: 9/16/2007
Number of Views: 602

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