WSU Volleyball | Photo by Brett Hull | The Wright State Guardian
It was a very busy week for Wright State University (WSU) Volleyball, going 2-1 in conference play in a five-day stretch.
The week started with a five-set-thriller against Milwaukee (MKE) at home, with the Raiders losing the decisive set five after going 2-0 up in sets.
They responded with two quick sweeps to even out their conference record, scoring 3-0 against Green Bay (GB) and 3-0 against Youngstown State (YSU) for a 2-2 HL record.
Even though the team had an undefeated conference season in the spring, losing two close matches against Northern Kentucky (NKU) and MKE was almost expected, and hasn’t fazed the team.
“This season, our expectations are a bit different than in the spring.” Lainey Stephenson, the starting setter for the team, said. “Teams are just as good, if not better than three months ago, and everyone is going to put up a better match than in the spring.”
Realistic expectations
For WSU fans who watched the team go undefeated last year, it was a reality check to see two losses on the schedule to start conference play.
But the two matches were extremely close, and both just slipped out of the Raiders’ grasp. Both matches went all the way to five sets and seemed like a coin toss to who came out on top.
Especially against teams like NKU and MKE, who always have a strong showing in volleyball, losses can’t put the team into a slump.
“Last year, we worked really hard to get this number one seed, and now we have to go out there and prove that we’ve earned it.” Ellee Ruskaup, a defensive specialist for the team, said. “Our backs are going to be against the wall, but we need to be able to shoot ourselves off of it.”
There will most likely be another loss in the season for the team, but it’s important to be realistic in order for the team to rebound.
“It would be great to go undefeated like last year, but we’ve got to be realistic. They’re a good team, they’re respected, and it’s okay to lose if we left everything we have out on the court.” Stephenson said.
A Story to tell
Jenna Story has been a staple of WSU volleyball for three seasons so far and continues to be crucial for the success of the team at Libero.
With placements already in the HL All-Freshman team and the HL First-Team, her strong defense for the Raiders in recent matches has helped her hit another landmark in her career.
In the Raiders’ match against YSU, Story saved the Raiders for the 2,000th time, with her nineteen digs pushing her over 2,000 career digs for Wright State.
Story has played for the Raiders since her freshman year, recording 556 digs in her first year of college play, the third-most in program history.
In only her second year at WSU, she set the program record for the stat, recording 667 digs, a stat that should stand for years to come.
The only person who could beat Story’s record is herself this year, with 361 digs already recorded this season.
