Practice makes perfect: Assistant coach, Joey Chen looks on as volleyball practices defending against blocks.

The Oberlin College varsity volleyball losing streak continued this week, as the squad dropped both conference and non-conference games.

The Yeowomen faced stiff competition at the Case Western Reserve Tournament this past weekend. The team opened the tournament with a match against Westminster, the team that won the Oberlin Invitational earlier this season.

Westminster proved to be just as strong, beating the Yeowomen 30-23, 30-24, 30-26. When asked about the game, head coach Kristen Surovjak pointed out the 26 points her team racked up in the third set as a definite sign of improvement. “We never would have done that at the Oberlin Invitational,” she remarked.

After the Westminster game, the Yeowomen put up a strong fight against Washington and Jefferson. Oberlin lost the first two sets 30-20 and 30-15, but came back to win the third set 27-30. The team was unable to pull off a win, however, as they lost the fourth set 30-14.

Oberlin began the second day of tournament competition with a game against Urbana College, which they dropped 30-14, 30-18, 30-19. Oberlin had one last chance to pull off a tournament victory during their final game against John Carroll, but lost in straight sets, 30-10, 30-14, 30-11.

With only one day to rest, the Yeowomen were back in action on Monday when they battled a strong Heidelberg squad. Oberlin’s effort was not enough to secure a victory and the Yeowomen lost 30-8, 30-15, 30-20.

With non-conference play behind them, the Yeowomen began their 2004 NCAC conference play with a match against rival Ohio Wesleyan University. Oberlin beat OWU during the regular season last year and also edged them out in final conference standings. During the opening minutes of this year’s face off it appeared that history would repeat itself. Oberlin started out strong and grabbed a 12-4 lead in the first set but lost momentum when OWU middle hitter Melissa Hill began her serving spree. “OWU hit it to the sideline and the endline and we couldn’t pass it back,” commented coach Surovjak. Oberlin rallied late in the set but could not finish and went on to lose in straight sets, 30-24, 30-15 and 30-17. “It was disappointing to go that far and lose,” said first-year Stacy Bosowski. “We ended the first game thinking OWU was a beatable team. If you matched us up on any given day the outcome would be different.” First-years Deysi Villarreal put up four blocks and sophomore Meaghan Pugh added 16 digs.

Coach Surovjak thought Oberlin’s play has been “typical for a young team. We’ve been up and down a lot. Unfortunately, our down swings have been against weaker teams and our really strong games versus better teams. The team is convinced they can fight and be better.”

After reflecting upon the recent losses, Oberlin will be working on its serve receive as well as the defense to offense transition. The squad will put these changes into action when it faces conference rival Kenyon on Sunday.