Seniors lead 91吃瓜 on historic run back to league volleyball tournament
- Gene Schinzel / staff writer -听
Last Saturday鈥檚 Senior Day win took on a little extra meaning for the College of St. Mary volleyball team.
The sweep over Mount Marty secured its spot in the GPAC tournament for the first time since 2015.
The top eight of the 12 conference teams advance to the tournament, which begins this Saturday. Five of those eight are nationally ranked, including No. 1 Northwestern. The Flames are one of two other teams receiving votes.
鈥淲e worked hard in the offseason,鈥� said third-year coach Rick Pruett, whose team will be the eighth seed in the tourney. 鈥淭hat was one of our goals, to make the conference tournament. To get to that spot in this conference means you鈥檙e a pretty good team.鈥�
The Flames have been on an upswing since Pruett鈥檚 arrival. They won seven matches in 2016, eight in 2017 and 14 last year. They started 15-3 this fall and have 22 wins, the program鈥檚 most since 2007.
This year鈥檚 team 鈥� composed mostly of players from Nebraska 鈥� has six seniors. Leading that group are Omaha Benson grad Amber Anderson, who leads the team in kills with 367, Council Bluffs Lewis Central鈥檚 Natalie Patten, the team鈥檚 leader in assists (835), and East Butler鈥檚 Payton Robley, the leader in digs (564).
Those seniors have helped the Flames go 8-1 in five-set matches.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e really good under pressure and we鈥檝e had a mentality that we have to compete every set, not just every match,鈥� Pruett said. 鈥淭he mindset is play to win, not play not to lose.鈥�
The Flames also hope to land a spot in the NAIA national tournament later this month. But as of now, their focus is on Saturday鈥檚 GPAC quarterfinals.
鈥淎nything can happen. Anyone can make a run,鈥� Pruett said. 鈥淭he depth of this conference is really tough. I look forward to a lot of wars going on Saturday night.鈥�
