This past Friday, Oberlin volleyball headed to The College of Wooster to compete against the Geneva College Tornados and the Pitt-Greensburg Panthers in the Ginny Hunt Classic.
The team faltered in their first match against the Tornados, losing 3—1 in a series of close sets.
Despite the first half of the classic, the Yeowomen were not out of the competition yet and made good on the day by clearing out the Panthers in a dominant 3—1 victory.
Though they started off slowly in losing their first set against Pitt-Greenburg, the Oberlin unit gathered steam and stormed forward into the rest of the match. After quickly going up 12—8 in the second, the team stuck together and belted off eight straight points to tie the game. The third set followed in a similar fashion, with the Yeowomen dwarfing the Panthers 25—12 to secure a 2—1 lead.
However, the match was far from over. The fourth set came down to the wire, with the Panthers rallying back and forcing Oberlin to trail 22—17 late in the set. Regardless of the score, the Yeowomen remained determined to win and rallied together to a 28—26 win, securing the 3—1 victory.
From a statistical standpoint, Oberlin performed at a high level across the board against Pitt-Greenburg. Three different players recorded double-digit kills — the volleyball term for score. Fourth-year middle hitter Natalie Dufour left the court with an amazing .400 kill percentage, meaning she had a 40 percent chance of scoring any time she appeared on offense. From the outside hitter position, third-year Zeynep Kaya and fourth-year Julia Hall were also impressive. Kaya landed a whopping 12 balls into Panther territory and Hall also came to play with 10.
Another key factor of the Oberlin win was the incredible serves. The team had a collective 16 aces during the match, led by fourth-year middle hitter Cami Sweet who notched six to secure the crimson and gold victory.
The Yeowomen were also great defensively. With key defensive specialist third-year Iris Archibald missing, third-year setter Jillian Jendsen stepped up and delivered an imposing 18 digs. Third-year outside Josie Macdonald was also a crucial defensive performer, contributing 13 digs of her own.
Oberlin volleyball clearly has a bright future ahead of them this season. The team appears to be a strong, cohesive unit with playmakers throughout the roster.
Zeynep Kaya shares this sentiment, and spoke highly of her team in an email to the Review.
“Everyone on the team shines in their own way by contributing with their unique personality and volleyball skills,” Kaya said.. I am really proud of the way we support each other on and off the court. On Friday’s game, we couldn’t show up with our usual line up due to some health issues so people played different positions and we tried different game plans,” Kaya said. “We accepted the challenge and fought [until] the end. I think working on our mental toughness by trying to be comfortable with the uncomfortable situations brought us the win. I am so excited for the rest of the season [and] I can’t wait to show our team chemistry and improve our connections!”
Sweet seconded Kaya’s opinion, stating, “The game encapsulated a good win for us. We had fun and played hard which ended in a good result!”
Oberlin volleyball lost to Allegheny College last Tuesday 3-1. The team returns to their home court tonight for their Pride Night game against Wilmington College Friday Sept 20th. The event will be a fundraiser for the Trevor project and free Pride flags will be given to those in attendance.
