Andrew Pawling
After finishing as national runner-up last season, the indoor volleyball team has battled through a very streaky season thus far, finding themselves 12-7 two-thirds of the way through their season.
The girls started off 0-3 before rattling off six consecutive wins as Aug. turned into Sept. Throughout their first 19 matchups, both wins and losses have come in bunches, with a majority of their wins coming during separate winning streaks of six and five games respectively.
Members of the team credit their hot streaks to buying into the team-oriented mindset and winning games point by point.
“We just move one step at a time like coach Chris says, we just all try to follow the same path to reach our goals.”
– Buse Ene
Under head coach Chris Keen, the team has seen drastic results during the season with more highs than lows over their first two months of play. Expectations were high for the team going into the season and they still have a chance to finish with a respectable record as their conference play has been solid with a 7-4 record in those games.
“We knew coming in that there were going to be some changes (a new coach, new players) but we didn’t let that affect us,” player Bethany Besancenez said. “In the begging it took some time to get to know everyone’s tendencies on the court but once we figured that out everything started to gel and we started winning. We started learning from the past, preparing for the future, and playing in the present.”
Despite playing poorly on the road, the Mocs are 10-0 when playing at home this season.
“We love the home crowd and the support when they cheer from us, I think it helps us go through some bad points that we get,” junior Anica Popadic said.
The Mocs have also dominated SSC player of the week honors throughout the season with; senior offensive player Nicole Mattson (twice), senior setter Bethany Bescancenez (twice), sophomore offensive player Rachel Martin and freshman blocker Tierra Porter, all winning the award at their respective positions.
Mattson is the reigning FSC Offensive Player of the Week after averaging nearly five kills a set during the Mocs 2-1 run in conference play this past week. She is currently top five nationally in points (5.25), kills (4.80), and attacks (14.96) per set, leading the SSC in those three categories.
The Mocs have two home matchups this week, tonight at 7 p.m. vs Barry University and tomorrow at 4 p.m. vs the Lynn Fighting Knights. Next week the team will hop on I-4 and travel to Orlando for a three-match weekend in the South Regional Crossover.
