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This Friday at 7 p.m. the first 200 fans at the University of Maine women’s volleyball match will win a T-shirt, as the Black Bears attempt to pull off their first win in conference play.
“I think these two matches will be very emotional. They are our two biggest rivals,” junior outside hitter Alaina Kleparek said. “I think we have a lot of desire to kill both of these teams.”
UMaine will face the University of New Hampshire Friday evening, and its “Pack the Pit Night” for Black Bear fans. The first 200 fans will receive free Mizuno T-shirts, and there will be competitions for gift certificates and prizes. Sophomore setter Carmen Gabriel said she hopes many people will turn out for the match.
“I think a lot of fans will definitely influence the way we play,” Gabriel said.
New Hampshire is currently ranked 10th in the region, and UMaine has never defeated the Wildcats, but they say this weekend could change that.
“I don’t care what they are ranked. We’ve seen that level of competition, and an even higher one in Colorado. We are prepared,” head coach Sue Medley said.
Medley’s players agree that they can play at the same level against New Hampshire.
“I’m not intimidated,” junior middle blocker Claire Poliquin said. “We were as good as them last year. We’ve never beaten them before, but we are due for a win.”
The Black Bears will then play Northeastern Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Northeastern leads the America East conference in hitting percentage, kills and assists, but the Black Bears are more concerned about their own play than they are about their opponents’.
Gabriel said that Maine is going in with one thing in mind.
“Every single practice this week is about winning, winning, winning. There is no way we are going to win this weekend’s matches if we don’t pass. To win, we’ll have to outsmart them and outpass them,” Gabriel said.
The Black Bears said that part of their strategy for their approaching matches is a consistent line-up. The coaching staff has been looking for the right combination of players on the court since the preseason.
Medley said the changes are going to have a positive impact on her team’s play.
“I think we’ll be much more effective with this line-up. It has a lot of potential,” Medley said.
Gabriel and Poliquin agreed that a consistent line-up would make them stronger.
“With our line-up being more steady, we can communicate better with each other,” Poliquin said.
The Black Bears go into this weekend’s matches with two losses in conference play after being defeated by Binghamton University and University of Albany at Memorial Gym last weekend. The Black Bears fought hard against the Binghamton Bear Cats Sunday afternoon, but they won only a single game in the tight match (27-30, 30-16, 30-25, 30-27). Binghamton walked away with a record of 7-11 overall and remain undefeated in conference play, while UMaine dropped to 6-14 on the season.
Medley said her team did a lot of things right.
“Our hitters were hitting more effectively,” Medley said. “We struggled with a lot of unforced errors, but we put out a good defensive performance.”
Among the hitters were freshman Leah Guidinger, Poliquin and Kleparek. Guidinger recorded 12 kills and added 19 defensive digs. Poliquin reached the team high with 17 kills on 32 total attacks. Kleparek helped her team with 11 kills and 11 digs while playing as a left outside hitter, a position she hadn’t seen much of before the weekend.
“We started putting her there in the Boston College game last Wednesday,” Medley said. “She had double-digit kills that night and another solid performance against Albany. She’s really stepped up.”
Kleparek said it felt good to be playing that position but was disappointed with the weekend’s outcome.
“It was really tough to come away with two losses. Especially since we know what we are capable of,” she said.
UMaine had their first loss Friday night when Albany swept them (30-26, 30-20, 30-14). The Great Danes are the number two serving team in the country and have the nation’s service leader, Eileen Rodriguez, who averages 1.96 aces per game.
“I’m still extremely confident in this team,” Medley said. “We have a good, good team, it’s just a matter of time before we put every aspect of the game together. We’re just about to turn a corner.”
