Tuesday night in their first conference game of the season, varsity volleyball was unable to take vengeance on FHN, losing 3-0. Going into the game, head coach Colleen Shields said she wanted the team to show up to play. Despite the tough loss, Shields said the ladies achieved her goal anyway.

“[Tonight] we actually played to win instead of just trying to stay in the game,” said Shields. “We also capitalized on momentum; volleyball is a game of momentum and this time we did a better job of using it to our advantage.”

The Rangers had a slow start, giving Northern three points right from the start. Fortunately, they hit one into the net, giving the serve over to FHC. Freshman setter Hannah Bergman was able to capitalize off of the Huskies mistake, getting an ace for the team.

After the Huskies got out to an 8-2 lead, Shields was forced to take a timeout for the team to stop their momentum. It was unsuccessful in doing so, coming out of the timeout FHN got another three points, putting the Rangers down by nine. Later in the game, the ladies were able to obtain a six point run, bringing them back in the game at 15-10. Despite the comeback, the team still lost the first game 25-17.

Early in the second game the ladies had multiple serving and receiving errors, putting the Rangers down 3-0 once again. Although there were mistakes made, there was also improvement with attacks and blocking. Senior captains Kendall Gardner and Emma Beck were able to get three blocks that went straight down onto Northern’s side of the net, adding three points for the Rangers. Even with the heightened play from the ladies, they were defeated 25-18.

The third game seemed like an entirely different volleyball team. Likewise to the first and second games, they lost the early points, but this time they were able to regain their composure. For the first time in the match, they were tied at 7-7. With Northern finally feeling the pressure, they took a timeout. The hitters in green made few mistakes while racking up points for the team. Unfortunately, they started to lose their momentum near the middle of the game, making Shields use a timeout to talk to her team. After the minute break, they obtained two points, putting the game within four, 15-11. As the margin grew bigger, the team’s motivation to win also grew bigger, giving them a big run towards the end of the game. Within four points once again, Northern took another timeout. It was a valiant effort by the ladies, but they were still conquered by Northern, 25-20.

“[Tonight] our blocking was improved,” said Shields. “We did a far better job reading the offense and picking up tips. We also took smarter shots on offense. [My goal the next time we play them] is to beat them! We plan to work hard over the next few weeks to make it a competition worth seeing.”