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LISA PURDY -- Flat Hat
A Tribe volleyball player jumps for the ball. W&M is at the CAA Championships this weekend, after defeating UNC-W 3-1 last week.
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Volleyball prepares for CAAs
George Mason to host CAA tournament tomorrow
By Laura Terry
Flat Hat Sports Editor
The volleyball team's CAA tournament begins tomorrow with a match between host George Mason University and the University of Delaware, which will be followed by competition between W&M and Hofstra University.
The winners of each match will advance to the tournament finals Sunday.
"[The match against Hofstra] is a very important match to us, of course, because they're the team we have to play to get to the finals," freshman setter Amy Owens said. "They're a very good offensive team, and we'll have to play good defense against them to win the match."
W&M has been fighting to win the privilege of hosting the tournament, a right that is awarded to the conference team that holds the top percentage of wins for the season.
W&M and George Mason both went 11-1 in the CAA.
George Mason will host the tournament, however, because of the outcome of the season's two matches between the schools. W&M defeated George Mason in their first meeting, 3-2.
George Mason returned later in the season to produce a 3-1 win over the Tribe. Because George Mason defeated W&M in fewer games, they will host.
Should George Mason and W&M face off in the finals of the tournament, the Tribe athletes have strong feelings about the match.
"We're definitely very ready to beat George Mason; they're obviously our biggest rivals this season," senior Tara Tobias said. "And losing [hosting privileges] to them, not that it was a good thing, but maybe in the long run it will motivate us more to play really hard to beat them."
Owens agrees that the Tribe is motivated to defeat George Mason in the finals, if both teams win in the semifinals.
"George Mason has been our number-one opponent the entire season, and if we do get the opportunity to play [them] in the finals, then it will be an absolute dog fight," Owens said. "It's a huge match for us. It's so much motivation that it's there [at George Mason]."
For George Mason to face W&M in the finals, the teams must win their semifinal matches.
"Delaware will give George Mason a good fight because they're a good blocking team and George Mason relies heavily on their offense," Owens said of that pairing.
The last conference match of the season for the Tribe was played this past week against the University of North Carolina--Wilmington.
Last Friday, the Tribe traveled to Wilmington, N.C., to take on the Seahawks. W&M fell in the first game, 28-30, but then took the following three games, 30-26, 30-17, 30-28.
The first-game loss motivated the team to push harder to win the next three games, according to Tobias.
The Tribe emerged with the 3-1 win, after three athletes tied or broke their career bests, one of whom was later named CAA Athlete of the Week.
Senior Laurel Witt was given this honor for the second time this season, after she tied her career high of 18 kills.
Witt also leads the CAA in hitting percentage with her .322 average this season.
"Laurel's always a very steady, consistent player, and that's fabulous to see [senior setter] Sarah [Gubler] set Laurel the ball and know that something great is going to come out of that play," Tobias said.
Tobias also tied her career best, making 30 digs -- at least twice as many digs as any other Tribe athlete in the match. Tobias also contributed 11 kills to the effort.
Although she led the team in digs for the match, Tobias said that the team wasn't totally focused.
"It was actually kind of a rough match to start off with because we lost the first game," she said. "I guess we weren't very focused as a team. My assistant coach, Lori [Price], came up to be between games two and three and said, 'Tara, what's wrong with you?' and she kind of gave me a little kick in the butt, which I guess everyone needs from time to time."
Senior Stacy Woodson and freshman Christina Hinds were the two other Tribe athletes with double-digit kills in the match, with 13 each.
For the match, freshman Carly Huffman had the best hitting percentage, with .368. Huffman, who leads the CAA in blocks, added five to her season total.
Owens was the third Tribe player with a remarkable night. Though she played only three of the four games, Owens made a career-high 44 assists, in addition to four kills and three block assists.
"We've just continued, the past two weeks, as our assistant coach Lori [Price] says, focusing on the finish," Owens said. "We only have nine practices [left] and we just have to come in, buckle down and be focused every day on what we have to do."
Next week the team will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., Nov. 23 and 24 to compete in matches against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and either Washington State University or Rice University.
Of those games, Owens said, "It will be great competition for us, especially if we win [the] CAAs and get to go on to [the] NCAAs, [competing in Las Vegas] will be great preparation for us."
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