Millersville 2, Drexel 0 (25-10, 29-27);
Millersville 3, York 0 (25-18, 33-31, 25-12); all at York College
John's Commentary: "We came out of today with three wins, with everyone on our roster getting playing time, which is basically what we were aiming for, for today. We won three tight games; all three we could have easily dropped. One more match until Spring Break."
Coach's Commentary: "The quad-match at York turned out to be more interesting and instructive than I first thought it would be. This day was intended to be a team development experience, where we'd get a look at everyone on the roster in a competitive setting. I wanted the starting setters to get a feel for all of our hitters - their capabilities, their strengths, their weaknesses... I also wanted the hitters and d-specs to get some "real" time in a game situations, not just as the 'B' team, but mixed in with the regular starters, as will be the case at the tournaments that are rapidly approaching. But, what I didn't expect to get was the opportunity to test the character of so many players, as well as the character of the team in several truly tense and pressure-packed end games.
We played Villa Julie, Drexel, and York. The VJC and Drexel matches were best-of-threes, the York match was best-of-five. The idea was to start each first game off with our regular starting line-up, see how we did, and
then make strategic (not wholesale) substitutions, so that individual players would each get some quality time at the positions I see them playing when we start our tournament schedule after Spring Break.
For the most part, the first games went as expected, building early leads, and then substituting for specific positions. However, each of the second games got much more interesting than I had intended. Against Villa Julie, we fell behind late in the game, and had to face down four consecutive game points off of serve-receive. Keith did an excellent job of getting the ball to the right people in crucial situations, and we put 5 straight balls
away off of serve-receive to stave off a determined and inspired VJC squad. Adam, Matt, and Mace chipped in 2 blocks near the end of the game to allow us to make up the difference. Matt, Ryan, John, and Mace hit 5 for 8 with no errors in the last 7 points to seal the victory. We maintained our composure, and got the job done, 29-27. How we arrived in that position is another story - sloppy play, unfocused serve-receive (getting aced on four straight serves), and ineffectual hiting set the whole thing up. But oncewe were presented with the prospect of losing, and going to a deciding 15-point game, the team got down to business. I had confidence in the people that were on the court, and they bore that confidence out.
This was a theme that was repeated throughout the following two matches, as well. We'd win the first game easily, and then try something different, and the match would become down-right exciting. In the second game against Drexel, having won the first game 25-10, we moved Mace to middle and Keith to outside and MD to Libero - three fairly crucial changes. We got ourselves in a hole early on a collection of mishits, blocks, and
mishandles (but amazingly, no missed serves), and found ourselves down 8-13. and we still down 4 points at 15-19. At that point, Tracey subbed in to help our passing, taking Matt Shetzline off the court. We struggled
back, but were still down 22-24, and receiving serve, when Duston came up with a big kill on his third attempt, and followed that with a solo block to even the score. We traded side outs to 27, VJC hit out-of-bounds, and
Ryan put away a kill off of transition for the game, 29-27. It was another big win under difficult circumstance that kept us from going to a deciding 15-point game. Again, we got the job done when it counted.
A similar story arose in the match against York - we won the first game handlily, 25-18, and went into the second game with another different line-up, the sixth we'd used on the day. We held up well until 17-16, when
a string of York blocks, an ace, and a couple of kills put us in the hole, 18-22. We then clawed back to 22-24, and fought off 5 game points in route to a 33-31 victory. In that span Adam, Ryan , and John put down 6 kills
with no errors, and John and Mace came up with a big double block, while John chipped in an ace. York's serve-receive deserted them in the third game, and we won easily, 25-12. I must admit, I was somewhat ambivalent at seeing my former team go down like that after playing such a brillliant second game.
For the third time on the day, we maintained our composure under adverse circumstances, and were able to execute almost flawlessly - when we had to.The down side is that we played sloppy ball through the middle of all of the second games, and that is what repeatedly put us in the holes that we had to dig ourselves out of. However, dig we did, and I couldn't have asked for a better end result then to have won those three games under those circumstances. This collection of matches, using all of our personnel in crucial situations, resulted in a great team-building experience. The guys off the court, whether from the first team or the second, were cheering for the guys on the court (whether from the first team or the second). Once again, the team has shown growth - this time in size and in confidence. We continue to absorb the lessons that come our way...
Also - Adam did a nice job in stepping in for Duston in the first and third matches - hitting .409 (22-12-3), and collecting 9 blocks on the day, the most of any player, including centering 2 triple blocks. Matt Shetzline had a stellar, if abbreivated, day hitting .647 (17-12-1). Nate put in his best hitting performance of the season with .545 (11-7-1), while also serving teams off the court with 21 points in 36 serves, and 9 aces vs. only 2 errors.