Ups and Downs

This past weekend was pretty incredible for our team. We hosted the Tom Hay Invitational, and went 4-0 to earn the tournament championship. Despite the success, the way that our team played was out of this world. Everyone's game has continued to improve and everything seemed to come easy. Our two setters, Molly Giannattasio and Whitney Miller, were unstoppable. They showed that despite being freshmen, they can lead this team and do it with confidence. We had our first five-set match of the season against Plymouth State, which was great for experience. Getting that out of the way was a big stress reliever. Overall, this weekend was great and improving to 21-0 helped us rise in national rankings to #18.

However, this Tuesday we hit our first speedbump. We lost to Wellesley in four sets in an exciting match. Unfortunatley, we really beat ourselves, and our errors were enough to give them 45% of their points. Wellesley has always been a tough competitor for us, especially since the rivalry dates back to before most of us were in high school. We have learned from the loss and we're over it. Now we're looking forward to playing in a tough tournament this weekend at Clarkson.

I think it's important for us to continue to look at the big picture and realize that being 21-1 and #18 in the country isn't too shabby. Losing is a necessary part of improvement and it gives us even more incentive to work harder. There is a deep passion within all of us for this team, this program, this school, and I have complete confidence that this won't hold us back.

As we travel to Postdam, N.Y. this weekend on a six hour bus ride, there is going to be a fire that will burn within us until we enter that gym at 7:00 pm on Friday night. I can promise you that when we get off that bus, we are going to bring an explosion of energy that will help us continue our great season.

I love this team.