Three Takeaways for EC Volleyball After Notching First Win
EUREKA – EC volleyball coach Nick Mackall was home sick on Friday.
That happened to be the day that the Red Devils headed on the road for their first matches of the season not played inside Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center – tests against Rockford and Lawrence.
The maroon and gold had started the week with an exhibition sweep against Harris Stowe on Monday, then fell in three against Knox on Wednesday.
Instead of being on the sidelines and working to strategize and make adjustments on the fly, he was able to sit back and evaluate where the Red Devils were from a different view point. What did he see?
"I'd be lying to you if I didn't say we got better," Mackall said. "We saw three different teams show up all three days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), and the team that showed up Friday is the best team we've seen so far."
The Red Devils played 10 spirited sets on Friday, splitting a pair of five-set challenges.
In the first match of the day, EC fell short against the home team, 22-25, 25-27, 25-16, 25-27, 13-15. Then, later that night, the Red Devils edged Lawrence, 15-25, 25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 15-9.
Here are some of Mackall's takeaways from home:
- Serving was key
In Wednesday's season opener, the Red Devils only had two aces in three sets. On Friday, however, EC notched 10 aces in the close loss against Rockford. Then, in the five-set win over Lawrence, the team racked up 17 – nine of which came in the last two sets. In the final set of the match and the day, Eureka fell behind 5-0, then ripped off eight straight points. Three of the eight were aces by freshman Brooklyn Shell. Libero Jordyn Fox contributed a final one in the team's 6-0 run later in the set. The team missed five serves in the match compared to Lawrence's 10. A Lawrence service error gave Eureka the final point of the match.
- Leadership and growth
Mackall says that on Friday, the team's leaders came to play – new and old.
Senior Corinne DeBoard posted a career-high 17 kills in the first match of the day while leading the team with a .264 hitting percentage and notching 17 digs to go with it. Junior Jordyn Fox put on the libero shirt and racked up a career-high 33 digs against Rockford. Then, she added 12 more digs against Lawrence. On Monday, she was named St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week.
Setter Faith Catour distributed 79 assists in two matches and Shell continued to lead the offense at the net, recording a team-high 22 kills against Rockford and a team-high 16 against Lawrence.
Mackall said the whole team played with a relentless pursuit that showed an improvement in intensity from earlier in the week. The Red Devils dug 163 balls on the day and had one block every set.
"We're getting bits and pieces from everybody," he said. "That's the best part of how the team's playing right now. It's not just one person."
- The Red Devils finished strong
Late Friday night, the Red Devils finally got over the hump.
After losing in three generally close sets against Knox on Wednesday and coming up just a couple of points short earlier that evening, the Red Devils finished strong and picked up their first win of the season against Lawrence. It's a good trend. On the season, the Red Devils trail their opponents 174-157 in scoring, but if you take all three matches and except the fifth sets, Eureka is only down by one point, 247-246.
"We're a couple of small details away from turning around that five-point loss, that four-point loss, that two-point loss," Mackall said. "We are figuring things out before conference season, so we'll be in great shape a few weeks from now."
The Red Devils (1-2) face Monmouth (4-1) on the road on Wednesday at 7 p.m.