The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports October 13, 2007

Volleyball Defeats Cuyahoga to End Losing Streak

This week, the Oberlin volleyball team was eager to claim a victory as the women worked to end their five-game losing streak. The first chance to set things right came on October 5 at an away game against the Allegheny Gators. Having already lost twice to the Gators this season, the Yeowomen looked to take the first step toward leveling things out with their rivals from Meadville, PA. It was a conference game and valuable points were at stake.

Unfortunately, things didn’t start up well for the Yeowomen and for most of the first period it seemed like it would be an early night for both teams. Allegheny started the game in pole position as the opponents went out to an early lead. The Gators quickly broke away from the Yeowomen and claimed the first frame in a 30-21 victory.

Oberlin stepped things up in the second frame as the Yeowomen hit their hosts with impressive plays. The good start helped Oberlin to a 30-28 victory as the players made it clear that they would not be written off. Backed by the home supporters, however, Allegheny was able to scrape victories in the last two sets. Oberlin played hard in both of them, taking things to 30-27 and 30-28 in the third and fourth frames. Sophomore Rita Kaplon led Oberlin on the right as she totaled 24 assists and a .235 hitting average. The loss put Oberlin at 3-14 for the season and 0-7 in conference action.

With six straight losses, the Yeowomen were now more eager than ever to claim a victory. The Hiram match on October 6 provided an opportunity for them to do that, It was a full day for Oberlin, who also played Cuyahoga Community College later in the day.

In the opener, Oberlin fell to Hiram, extending the loss tally to seven. Hiram appeared to be the better team from start to finish as it breezed past the Yeomen in three straight sets: 30-23, 30-22, and 30-21. First-year Melissa DeLombaert boasted an impressive .400 hitting percentage in the Hiram tie.

It was a different story in the second game of the day as Oberlin went up against Cuyahoga Community College. The Oberlin players in the middle really stepped things up for that contest as Oberlin went on to win the game in three straight sets:  30-18, 30-14 and 30-17.

Sophomore co-captain Tammela Platt voiced her delight with the team’s progress, saying, “Our middles are improving a lot. We’re doing a much better job setting for them and getting them involved in the game.”

DeLombaert was one of the middle players who stepped things up, racking up seven kills on 21 attempts.

With that win, Oberlin broke its seven game losing streak. The victory comes at a crucial time as the team prepares to dive into the second half of the season. Junior Amanda Van Allen informed that regardless of the poor show up until this point, the Yeowomen are out to turn things around in the second half of the season.

“We are focusing on making the second half of the season better than the first half,” said Van Allen. “We will be going through conference a second time, and we are looking forward to sticking it to everyone. We know they are all scared of us. We just have to pull out the wins!”

The Yeowomen improved to 4-15 overall and 0-8 in conference action. Oberlin plays next away against nationally ranked Wittenberg University in a game that Platt hopes “will be fun.” The Wittenberg game is at 8 p.m. tonight.


 
 
   

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