Gators vs. G/G

by Coach Dahl

 

Facing one of the top teams in Section 8 A is a welcome challenge as tournament time approaches.  It's an indicator of what needs to be fixed to compete and stay alive in post season play.  In the remaining matches of the 2015 season, the Gators have great challenges ahead of them as they compete against the toughest teams in the area, but they'll gladly take it as this is what pushes a team to rise to be its best.  Great competition only makes us better.

The Gators may have lost against the Grygla-Goodridge Chargers, but they did push extra sets, and sometimes that's the goal.  However, to win against a better team, the Gators needed to play an exceptional game and the Chargers needed to have an off night, and this was not the case.  Set 1 was back and forth for most of the set.  The Gators had to serve tough and stay aggressive to have a change against a dominant Charger team.  Several hitters were able to sneak in kills; however, the Chargers kept putting on the pressure and won the set.  Gator attackers combined for 12 kills in the set; however, the Gators fell 20-25.  The Chargers manhandled the Gators during set 2.  The Chargers were very effective from the serving line and kept the Gators from returning the ball.  The Charger block camped out and Gator attackers couldn't penetrate the Charger defense.  When the Gators did side out, they couldn't keep it.  It was a quick 6-25 loss.  Such a huge deficit sparked a fire as the Gators battled in set 3 and had a much better start, something incredibly challenging to do after getting demolished in the previous set.  Late in the stretch the Gators tied it up 20-20 and were able to close out the set 25-21.   Ideally, teams would like to keep the momentum rolling into the next set, but set 4 was troublesome from the start as the Gators dug themselves into a hole right away.  The Chargers kept attacking and serving tough, and the Gators just didn't work hard enough to battle back as the gap was too large.  Back row passing struggled in every set.   There was a  run late in the set to make it 16-21 but not enough steam to make it a match.  The Gators lost 17-25.  Overall, the Chargers had over 20 service aces in the match, so clearly, the Gators need to do a better job playing the ball off the serve, but despite the weak set 2, the Gators played the Chargers better than their last meeting.  The Gators have to get better blocking on the other team's prime time hitters and avoid giving weak hits and tips back to an offensively dominant team.  The bright side is stealing a set from a better team; however, the Gators can't be satisfied with only that--staying competitive and battling point for point throughout the match against tough teams is key.

Carly Mekash had 12 kills; Emily Anderson had 9 kills and 2 aces.  Brenna Dallager had 15 assists; Alyssa Kilen had 14 assists.  Megan Larson also contributed 3 aces.

Gator Pride runs deep, and Dig Pink night did not disappoint.  Hats off to all who contributed in various ways to make the night a success!  Fearlessly fighting for a cure is important for all affected by cancer of all types, and there is great strength in unity.  Gator Volleyball is proud to do its part--Thanks for being part of our team and supporting this great cause.

Gators vs. Freeze

by Coach Dahl

 

The Gators didn’t have enough manpower to compete with a much improved Freeze volleyball team.  Although the Gators had edged out the Freeze early in the season, the Freeze were gunning on all cylinders.  Set 1 set the tone for the night as the Freeze served tough and kept the Gators scrambling out of system.   The Gators hung with them early on, but Freeze hitters kept pounding balls at the Gator defense, and though Freeze servers missed 4 serves, their servers picked apart the serve receive.  The Gators fell 17-25.  Set two was similar as the Gators could ever get any flow established and the Freeze defense outhustled the Gators and made big plays.  With only 7 kills in the set, the Gator hitters had to find a way to be effective, and the defense had to make stops against the Freeze attack.  The Gators had an 18-15 edge as they rallied toward the home stretch; however, they couldn’t get it done.  Freeze hitters responded and pounded the ball in the court to close it out.  The Gators lost 20-25.  Down 0-2, set 3 was do or die for the Gators.  Finally, Gator hitters started finding holes in the defense.  Emily Anderson and Carly Mekash had 4 kills in the set, which was already more than the first two sets.  Amy Svir got a couple kills and came up with a big block to aid the Gator cause as well.  Gator servers had a few out of system serves, but clearly weren’t as effective as the first meeting between these two teams.  The Gators had the Freeze on the ropes 24-22 but they needed to shut the door.  The Freeze battled to steal the win, but Anderson and Mekash came up with two big kills to triumph 26-24.   The Gators started finding more of the passing well in set 4, but again, the scrappy Freeze defense never gave up. They outlasted the Gators on several volleys, and the Gators never found a way to score more than 1 point compared to the Freeze scoring 2 or more every possession.  The Gators fell 16-25.

Emily Anderson had 9 kills, 9 digs, and 2 aces on the night; Carly Mekash scored 9 kills too.  Megan Larson had 4 kills to help the Gator effort, and Amy Svir cashed in 4 kills and 2 blocks.  Brenna Dallager and Alyssa Kilen had 13 and 6 respective assists.  Makenna Burslie had 6 digs in her varsity debut.

In a momentum game, the Gators have to find a way to serve more and pass less to keep momentum their side.  Serve receive passing has been a continual struggle this year and makes it much harder to get quality swings against good defensive teams.  October gets to be a grind, and the Gators need to continue to be focused and ready to compete.  Teams often improve greatly throughout the season, and the Gators need to make solid strides in their game as well.  “Win this ball” and 25 doesn’t seem out of reach.  With few regular season games left, tournament time will be here shortly.  Let’s rise above all obstacles and finish what we started.  Goooooo Gators!