After a valiant effort fought by the female Mavericks, the team lost its opener in conference play and fell to the University of the District of Columbia, 3-2.
Although last year the team managed a 10-25 records, it posted a winning percentage of .286, more than a .100 point difference compared to this year’s .182 and 2-9 record.
Starting Setter McKenna Ronan attributed the slow start to a lack of consistency and depth at the end of games.
” We’re playing really well with some good dynamics but struggle to finish games.”
The sophomore from Chandler, Arizona believes that the team is in a better state of mind then they were last year, even with the lack of returning starters.
” We have lost a lot of older players, but have gained a lot of good players in return as well as a new coach who is tough on us and motivates us to do well.”
Taneisha Cantave, Mavericks new volleyball coach ,has been somewhat viewed within the spotlight to see whether or not she can bring the Mavericks back from a disappointing season last year. Although it is early in the season, it does not appear that the team will finish with a .500 record unless it has a complete turnaround in the second half.
Ronan revealed that the team may have some solution to their ailing shortcomings. ” We have a few new plays that the team has been working out during practice, but we need to work on them a bit before using them during play.”
Maybe that is exactly what the female Mavericks need: a bit of spontanety and execution. In their game against the Dist. of Columbia, the Mavericks started out with an explosive offensive attack with outsider hitters Nicolette Gerhard and Brenna White leading the charge. Ronan, who posted a career high 54 assists, stated that their scheme of play kept them in the game but fell short during the clutch-time.
The Mavericks dropped the first four games of the season but then won two in a row by defeating Felician, 3-0, and Goldey-Beacom, 3-1. Mercy then dropped the next five games to Southern New Hampshire, Dist. of Columbia, Mass.-Lowell, Bentley and Merrimack.
Sophomore Brenna White moved into the top 10 in Division II in kills-per-set last week as she attempts to lead the entire NCAA in total kills for a second consecutive year.
White is averaging 4.44 kills-per-set, which ties her for eighth in Division II. She has totaled 173 over 39 sets thus far, including four 20-kill matches and a career-high-tying 31-kill performance against the University of the District of Columbia. She ended her freshman campaign with a 4.94 average, which ranked second in Division II, and became the first player to top 600 kills in a season since scoring changed from 30-point to 25-point sets in 2008.
ROSS NOTES: In times like these, shouldn’t teams be hitting the “Code Red” button and do everything in their power to to propel themselves forward and attain victory? Or should they just go with predictability and just lose in the fashion that they have been: close, but not good enough? In other sports such as football an baseball, players who perform within a wildcat offense or are assigned to be DHs and pitch runners are used mainly to shake things up in the game’s overall outcome. That “X-Factor” that impacts them typically throws opposing teams a curve ball in which they must make adjustments to their style of play, which is exactly what the Mavericks need to incorporate into their games.
