On Saturday afternoon, August 30th, Shepherd University and California University of Pennsylvania engaged in a friendly scrimmage at the Butcher Center, home of the Rams. The teams, geared up for their first competition of the fall 2014 season, both came out with high energy and strong line-ups. The first set was neck and neck as both teams kept high morale and matched each other point for point. The Rams pulled ahead in the end, winning the first set 25-23.
Set two began in the same fashion. With the score at 23-23, the intensity of the game heightened, and both teams battled to get a lead. Shepherd relied not only on their strong hitters for points, but also on setter Taylor Belella and her tricky tips to pull away from Cal U. After a few frustrating errors, the Rams cleaned it up and took the second set at 28-26.
Shepherd came out with a few new faces in the third set. Christine Jackson, Taylor Allen, Tommie Jo David, and Anna Roper started in set three--a rotation that made use of both setters, David and Belella. Similar to sets one and two, set three was tied at 20-20. Cal U pulled ahead of the Rams, winning set three 25-21.
Coach Guerci rearranged the line-up again for the fourth set. Cal U, carrying over high energy from their win, took a quick lead. Shepherd responded, battling back to a 15-12 lead, rallying behind the great blocking and attacking by Kayla Motheral and Kayleigh Helgesen. However, the Rams faced some tough servers and lost the fourth set 25-21.
With the score 2-2, both coaches agreed to play a fifth set to 25 points. The fifth set began like the others, both teams matching each other in points, intensity, and energy. A serving streak from Kelsey Anderson put Shepherd in the game. The Rams seemed to run out of steam after a long afternoon of good volleyball and lost the fifth set 25-15.
The final score was Rams 2, Cal U 3.
Though the score board showed a loss, the scrimmage was successful in the eyes of the Shepherd coaching staff. Coach Guerci was pleased that the team was able to play each set with a different line-up, and their strongest looks were very successful, especially in the first two sets. The difference in performance between the line-ups was minimal, showing that this year's team has great depth and potential. Cal U placed 1st in the PSAC conference last year and was good competition to start off the fall season. The veterans on the team showed great leadership and composure, while the younger players performed excellently. "All in all, a great day," says Coach.
Shepherd Volleyball heads to Misenheimer, NC, on Thursday to face Georgia College, Slippery Rock, and Pfieffer University over the course of the weekend. The next home game will be September 10th at 6:00 PM at the Butcher Center against Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
#RamBition
*Scoring and stats for today's scrimmage were unofficial due to the nature of a scrimmage. There were no officials, books, and the players did not wear numbers.
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