The Oberlin College varsity volleyball team faced another set of hard matches this past week. They took two of the three matches to five games, but were unable to pull out a win, bringing their season record to one win and seven losses.

Their first two matches were played on Saturday at Theil College of Greenville, Pa. Oberlin quickly fell to Theil in their first match-up (30-27, 30-22, 30-14) but were able to move on from the loss as they entered into play with LaRoche College.

The Yeowomen pulled together and won their first game against LaRoche 22-30 and then battled back-and-forth in the next three games, losing 30-27, winning 25-30 and then losing again 30-23. Unfortunately, Oberlin was unable to continue the pattern as they fell 15-5 in the fifth and final game of the match.

Sophomore Meghan Pugh put up 34 digs on defense to help keep Oberlin in the match, while sophomore Callie Sadler and junior Jeanne Feurerstein led the attack with nine kills apiece.

Oberlin’s third match of the week was played at home on Tuesday against Lake Erie College of Painesville, Ohio. The Yeowomen entered the court hungry for a win. They played strong in the first game, but missed the win by two points (30-28). They picked up the intensity in the second game and took Lake Erie 27-30.

As in the game against LaRoche, Oberlin and Lake Erie went back and forth on the third and fourth games with scores of 22-30 and 30-26, respectively, but this time the pattern was maintained as Lake Erie took the match in the fifth game with a score of 15-7.

“We played so hard against LaRoche and then Lake Erie. I just wish we could push it out for the win,” said first-year Deysi Villarreal.

Fuererstein led on defense this time with 17 digs and the combination of Sadler and Villarreal held the offense together, with Villarreal collecting 23 assists and Sadler putting down kills on nine of them.

The volleyball team travels to Cleveland, Ohio this weekend to play in invitational tournament at Case Western Reserve University. Their first match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 17.