Byron ParisThe N.C Central women’s volleyball team will begin a stretch of three conference away games tonight, against Maryland Eastern Shore. The team is 2-13, earning their first conference win against Morgan State last weekend, breaking an eight-game losing streak.
The team had early season matches against Duke, Santa Clara, Gardner-Webb, Elon, Campbell and Western Carolina University. The Eagles have played six five set matches this season. The team will only be facing conference opponents for the rest of the season.
“Preseason prepares you for the conference stuff,” head coach Jody Brown said.
One of those five set matches was against Morgan State last weekend at McDougald-McLendon Area. Down two sets to one the team flipped a switch.
In the fourth set the team took an early 8-4 lead. The Eagles started to play as if they knew exactly what the Bears players were doing. The Eagles won two straight sets to come back for a 3-2 win.
Outside hitter Jeslyn Spencer did not dominate the stat sheet, but she was the driving force in the win. Spencer was vocal during the game, getting her teammates back on focus in the huddle and making sure everybody communicated on the court.
“Working together as a unit falls back on trusting our training and trusting each other on making our own plays,” she said.
The team showed that trust in the following game against Coppin State, but lost 3-2.
This brings up the question, why the Eagles volleyball team has lost so many five set matches.
The Eagles are allowing opponents to gain quick points, allowing 12.2 kills per set on average. To add to this, the team is only getting 1.4 blocks per set.
NCCU is having a hard time defending their opponents for five sets every game. The inability to stop their opponents is causing the team to fall behind in many of their matches.
“Focus is easy. Refocusing is the hard part,” coach Brown said.
In conference the Eagles are 1-3 in the MEAC. Tonight they play Maryland Eastern Shore, Delaware State Sunday, and South Carolina State next Friday.
