Today: Mar 29, 2024

Skyhawks clip the Owls’ wings 3-1

Philip ZoppiSports Writer

Southern’s women’s volleyball extended their losing streak against Stonehill College on Friday night losing 3-1 in sets.  

The Owls have now dropped seven games in a row bringing their record to 14-17 on the season. Head coach Lisa Barbaro expects more from her players, but understands the team still has a lot to learn.

“I think they’re in a really tough stage right now,” said Barbaro. “They’ve fell short of their goals this season and have really struggled to get back on track. It’s still a young group, and they still have a lot to still develop with their mentality on the floor.”

Southern was able to win the third set of the match by a score of 25-13. Sophomore captain Leanna Jadus played a big role in winning the third set, and had a strong night overall as she finished with 12 kills and nine digs on the night.

Jadus was continually talking in the team huddles, trying to motivate her teammates to stay positive even when the game looked out of reach.

“I was just telling them to fight, keep playing, and push through until the end,” said Jadus.

Southern struggled early out of the gate as they dropped the first two sets. Assistant coach Drew Schaeffer was trying to motivate the team in the second set and specifically told Jadus that she needed to play better after back-to-back errors. Jadus responded well to the coaching.

“As a leader she has to know that the back-to-back errors is something that can’t happen,” said Schaeffer. “She really turned it around, but unfortunately the set didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”

The second set was the closest of all the sets as Stonehill edged Southern by a score of 25-23. After that second set, Southern looked like a completely different team. The Owls came out strong in the third set, winning it by a score of 25-13.

In between the second and third set, Barbaro made sure to try and calm her team down after falling down 2-0.

“It was really just getting them all to reset,” said Barbaro. “We went with a totally different lineup and that seemed to energize the team a little bit in different ways.”

Although there were positives to take out of the night the bottom line is Southern has not won a game since Oct. 21 against Saint Michael’s .

It has now been over two weeks since the Owls were able to pick up a win, and Jadus admitted that it has taken a toll on the team.

Jadus said that at times the team gets down but they are trying to do everything they can to keep themselves up.

The volleyball team will have a chance to end the season on a good note, as they still have a few games left before the conclusion of the season.

Schaeffer has noticed that the team can get down on themselves in the middle of the game, and has been working on fixing that issue. This problem has been going on for a while, according to Schaeffer.

“I think it really depends on the score,” said Schaeffer. “When we’re up we’re good, but when the other team starts making a run that’s when we get down ourselves. We’re addressing it in practice and trying to fix it. The team knows it too. Leanna as well as the other team captains have been addressing it in practice.”

The volleyball team will play their final regular season game against cross-city rivals University of New Haven in a key conference contest on Nov. 10.

Photo Courtesy: SCSU Athletic Communications

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Latest from Blog

Don't Miss

Throughout career, Carter identifies herself through Southern volleyball

Sam Tapper — Sport Writer When asking somebody who they are, there

Volleyball has record day as season winds down

Ed Rudman — Contributor On the night the women’s volleyball team honored