DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Carthage College Lady Reds volleyball team concluded a tough second weekend at Loras College, dropping their final two games of the tournament Saturday, September 10th.
The Lady Reds, now 4-4 on the season, dropped their first match of the morning in four sets to Cornell College, followed by a five-set defeat to St. Olaf College.
"It was a tough day all the way around," said head women's volleyball coach
Leanne Ulmer. "In today's first match we struggled to slow down their very talented outside hitter. They out killed us significantly and we just never got on track as we weren't very disciplined at the net. You can't give a good team like Cornell too many easy points. Couple that with also serving well and not making many unforced errors it doesn't add up well for us."
The match opened with both teams hitting well in the first set but Carthage was outdueled .405 to .300 in hitting percentages to drop the first set. After bouncing back and taking the second set with another good attacking performance, hitting .344, the Lady Reds dropped the third, hitting just .049. The fourth set was much like the first, as both team hit well, but Cornell was able to take the match behind a .410 hitting percentage in the final set.
Freshman
Megan Behrendt was the lone Lady Red to collect ten kills in the match as she finished with 12, while adding a team-high 18 digs as well.
The final match of the tournament seemed like a back-and-fourth lopsided affair with the Lady Reds once again finding themselves on the short end of the scoreboard.
After dropping the first set 25-20, it looked like Carthage had the answer taking the second set 25-15 to even the match. St. Olaf responded with a taste of their own medicine to reclaim the lead in the match with a 25-15 win of their own in the third set. Carthage then tied it in the fourth with another big win, taking the set 25-16. The hitting woes showed their ugly face again late in the match however, hitting .000, in the fifth to fall in the match, 3-2.
"In the match versus St. Olaf, when we were good we were really good. When we were bad we were really bad. We need to correct some things and figure out how to be more consistent. We'll work hard this week to get ready for our home tournament."
Carthage will play at home for the first time in 2016 next weekend as the Lady Reds host the 2016 Carthage College Invitational Friday and Saturday. Carthage's first game will be Friday at 8:00 p.m. when the Lady Reds take on Dominican University. Saturday the Lady Red will play two, first with Concordia University at noon, followed by the University of Chicago at 4:00 p.m.
