Following Thursday’s victory over McNeese State, the Lady Lions battled it out against the Lamar University Cardinals last Saturday at the University Center. Unfortunately, their winning streak was not sustained, as they suffered defeat with three sets to none. The final scores were 13-25, 19-25 and 18-25.
“I don’t think we were as aggressive as we were on Thursday,” said senior outside hitter Allison Jones. “I think mentally we weren’t prepared. So we need to get back in the gym and just work harder.”
Jones led the team with seven kills followed by outside hitter Taylor Buckner with six. Right side Paige Dollison had two aces, libero Chelsea Barr had a total of six digs and setter Arianne Cruckshank ended with three blocks and 18 assists. Cruckshank also totaled 51 assists on Thursday, ranking her seventh in Southeastern history for career assists.
Head coach Julie Langford explained that the team’s main focus in preparing for Lamar was shutting down their big hitter, number 17, and adjusting defense for that. Langford also worked with her hitters on targeting specific areas.
“That didn’t quite come together,” said Langford. “I think that was one of our biggest struggles with our offense, so we’re going to scout our next opponent and see what the strategy is that we need to use and work on that in practice.”
While there are some things the team will have to work on for their next game against Central Arkansas, Langford did notice a few positive aspects of their playing in Saturday’s game.
“I thought we did a better job on serve-receive and passing up to the pocket than we have in the past, so I felt like that was more consistent than what I have seen,” said Langford. “We didn’t dig as many balls as we used to, as we are accustomed to. But I thought passing was good, and I thought that we did a very decent job of blocking at the net as well.”
The Lady Lions are halfway into the season with this third Southland Conference match. Despite the team’s now 1-2 record, Langford is still optimistic that they will be able to improve for upcoming games.
“I think things are going well,” said Langford. “Lamar has always been a tough competitor for us. They are one of the top teams in the conference. We are building a lot of young players. I definitely would like to have seen a stronger performance out of us tonight. Unfortunately, today we just didn’t have it. But hopefully we will go back and practice now we know some more things we need to work on.”
The Lady Lions will be back in action this Thursday, Sept. 30, scheduled to play Central Arkansas away at 7 p.m.