After the Lions won the first game 30-8, they struggled, letting the Nighthawks steal the following game, 24-30.,The Emerson women’s volleyball team briefly lost focus Monday night as they allowed Newbury College to take the second game of the four-game match.
After the Lions won the first game 30-8, they struggled, letting the Nighthawks steal the following game, 24-30.
“Any coach strives for perfection and you want the team to play well,” said coach Craig Letourneau. “I just think they didn’t play up to the level that they’re capable of playing tonight.”
Forcing them into two more games, Emerson was shocked back to reality and won the remaining games, 30-14 and 30-19, respectively.
Letourneau said a lot is riding on junior captain Molly Soboroffand sophomores Kit Lagraze and Erin Connolly, a University of Rhode Island transfer. Connolly had 20 digs in the match.
According to Letourneau, other players have been stepping up for the team lately.
“I think that we have a very good serving team,” he said. “Kristina Ten really served us very, very well.”
While acknowledging that serving is key to taking out the opponent’s offense, Letourneau was also satisfied with his hitters for the night.
“I thought tonight our outsides did a good job,” he said. “Molly and Janna [Tonahill] did a good job of attacking the ball.”
One thing Letourneau and Soboroff agreed on was the lack of focus in the second game, where the Lions tallied up 17 errors. Letourneau emphasized not giving opposing team free points on errors, of which the team made 17.
“You need to come together and be in your little bubble as a team and play,” he said.
The team had a total of 12 blocks, 72 digs and 40 kills.
Emerson is undefeated in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference going into this week’s match against Simmons College. Soboroff stressed the importance of collective focus.
“I think the biggest thing is staying focused going into every single GNAC game and keeping our level of play consistent,” she said. “That’s what made us successful so far.”