University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Above the Net
9/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Above the Net
Southern Miss vs. Alcorn State
GAME 1
The Payne Center is rather empty, although there are a few parents in the stands today, the Bush?s and the Zane?s. We are very happy to have them here. After watching the first few points, it seems as though the Lady Eagles are ready to play today. Let?s see if that holds true.
Brynn is digging, Nicki and Drea are attacking on the outside, and Crystal is blocking and jump-serving, all with minimal errors. Amy is a very smart blocker. Her timing is flawless and her hands are strong. Alcorn State?s outside hitters beware! Alcorn calls a time out when the Eagles are leading 16-9. Amy will resume play with a jump-serve. The Eagles defense is on today, both Amy and Drea are rolling for tips and popping them up with one hand. Speaking of defense, Nicki and Drea are starting to trust each other on the left side. Nicki just got an awesome dig to Crystal and Drea put it away. Crystal set Amy a ?2? and smoke appeared on the other side of the court! Watch out!
First game goes to Southern Miss easily, 30-16.
GAME 2
The Eagles handled game 1 very well. It?s easy to play on the opposing teams? level, but they did not; they just played their game. With Southern Miss leading, 7-5, I was just about to comment on how well Crystal and Amy are playing today, until a miscommunication over who is setting happened. There is some tension on the court right now, but I am sure it will fade. Melissa is playing front row for Drea and Leslie is playing front row for Nicki. Bridget Files, (Biff), just hit a slide down the line for 13-12, USM.
It seems like the chemistry just isn?t there this game. It?s hard when there are two new people on the court, no matter how well they are playing. The Eagles are losing 16-19. Crystal is trying to motivate her team to take the lead. The response is not what it should be. Bridget blocked the outside hitter and Amy got an ace. Amy has brought the Lady Eagles back to take the lead. Melissa and Leslie are getting the job done, as much as their freshmen nerves will allow.
The final score is 30-26.
GAME 3
Amy is setting this game, and Crystal is playing opposite. Leslie is playing front row for Nicki and Melissa is playing for Drea.
Bridget is getting really good at hitting the slide down the line and surprising the left back defender. Leslie is so silly; she just laughs all the time. Cassie and Sarah are doing their job on the bench and cheering.
OK here we go, starting to fall apart. Alcorn State is leading 18-14. Maybe Amy?s jump-serve will bring them back like it did last game. Alcorn State is taking advantage of USM?s silence on the other side. Crystal just threw herself a bad toss for her jump-serve, but made a great save and got the serve over. The rule is once you toss the ball, you have to hit it over, you can?t let it drop anymore. It looked silly, but she got the job done. The Lady Eagles are making too many mistakes. They are practically giving the game to Alcorn. A time out is called by USM when Alcorn is up, 29-26. Melissa has handled the pressure of this situation nicely. USM almost came back that game, but lost 31-29.
GAME 4
The Eagles are pretty mad at themselves right now. They know they need to pick it up. They shouldn?t be playing a fourth game. There is still silence on the USM side, the girls need to start talking and having fun with each other.
Leslie and Melissa are still playing for Drea and Nicki. We have a controversy whether Alcorn had four or three hits. A ball Jazzmien hit was touched by A. State?s block, then hit the blocker?s head, her teammates passed, set, and hit. The officials called a replay after much debate.
This game is all about who has the ball and who?s making the mistakes. Alcorn State is picking up balls that should be down and USM is missing easy balls. Melissa is attacking the ball very well today. Too much miscommunication on the court is the reason why the score is only 19-17. Crystal is hitting the ?C?s? very well. Alcorn State is having a good time playing volleyball today, and Southern Miss in not. And that is why the final score is 29-31, Alcorn State.
GAME 5
Well, the fourth game was close; but again, the Eagle?s silence is what killed them. NOW, they are finally starting to yell and cheer after a block or kill. I am hopeful, they will keep cheering and win this game quickly.
Alcorn State calls a time out at 5-3. The Lade Eagles seem to be positive about this game. Drea and Nicki are back playing all around. Leslie and Melissa did a great job coming in. Drea?s dad, Mr. Bush, is in the stands making sound effects for every hit. My favorites are ?BAM!?, ?BOOM!?, and ?GO!? His cheers are quick and effective; what would we do without him?
Alcorn State calls a time out at 13-11 to try to come back. Even their cheer, ?Tick, tick, boom!? afther someone gets a kill, didn?t work for this match. The Lady Eagles take the match, 15-13.
Saturday, September 21, 2002, 3:20pm
Southern Miss vs. Louisiana Tech
During the lunch break, a fan asked my why Santiago wasn?t standing up and yelling like he did last year. I just kind of shrugged it off. But then I realized that it was probably because there was nothing to say. Santiago knows his team knows what to do and how to do it. They just have to want to win and go out there and play.
GAME 1
The Payne Center is more crowded then this morning. The Lady Eagle soccer team is here, along with the track team. Santiago, the head volleyball coach, just threw a ball at Sonya Varnell, the Associate Athletics Director. She just happened to be sitting next to one of the ball girls, and well, you get the rest. The whole gym saw it and laughed. This game is fun. The Eagles are entertaining the crowd and cheering! This is a whole different team. I see smiles and high five?s all over the court! The USM head trainer, Stephanie Rosehart, just made a comment to me, ?This reminds me of a movie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back?. She?s full of quirky remarks, good old Steph.
Drea just jumped and killed a ball and her head almost hit the ceiling, I don?t know how she does that. La. Tech calls a time out at 10-3. USM is leading and has had the momentum the whole time. The Eagles are serving aggressively. Libero, Brynn, is not playing this match to rest her hamstring. Jazzmien will be playing all around this match. Bush is HOT right now, which is why Crystal keeps setting her.
Wow, the score is 22-9- and this is the result of USM playing as a team and having fun on the court. Drea just smacked the right back player, #10, in the chest. Boy, is she mad at Drea! La. Tech calls a time out at 24-10. This is the team I see every morning at practice. It's like they are finally ready to show everyone how good they really are. Crystal is playing great right back defense. The final score is 30-16.
GAME 2
Bridget and Crystal are running the slide well today. Southern Miss is playing with power, motivation, skill, focus, and fun right now. If they keep this up, they will win the match in 3 games.
This game is a lot closer than the last game. Drea has hit almost every player on the La. Tech's side. Coach is going to have to escort her to the locker room to avoid a fight if she keeps this up. The track and soccer teams are leading the cheers in the stands. The best one is, when Bridget gets a kill, they'll say, ?Who?s house?, Biff?s house?. I love that cheer!
Southern Miss calls a time out when La. Tech is up, 25-21. Uhh-Ohh, the score is 24-29. Crystal vs. #7! Is it a tip or a touch? Crystal tipped the ball so that #7 would touch it as it goes out, and she did a good job tipping it, but the official didn?t see #7 touch it! Of course, our whole bench jumps up, coaching staff included, trying to argue the call. The official favors us; however the next point ends the game with La. Tech getting the win, 30-24.
GAME 3
This game is messy, coach calls a time out right away at, 5-1, with La. Tech in the lead. Both teams are making errors. It seems like no one wants to win. Southern Miss calls a time out at 17-8, LA Tech is in the lead. Bridget and Crystal connect for another kill down the line. La. Tech calls a time out because the Eagles are starting to come back, 13-18. Nicki is good at finding the holds in the block, while Drea just jumps over them!
Drea is wearing my old jersey, #13, for this match. She?s making me proud, I wished I jumped that high when I wore it! The Lady Eagles have the momentum and La. Tech calls a time out at 19-20. Bush is tricky, because she pounds the ball so hard so many times, that when she tips it, she throws the defense off big time. Crystal and Amy have hardly missed any jump-serves tonight and that is helping us out a lot. The final score is 30-25, La. Tech.
GAME 4
This game is more exciting, because there are more long rallies that the crowd loves. Nicki is a smart outside hitter, with her line and angle shots. It?s so funny how the crowd loves when a team saves a shanked pass. The regular ?bump, set, spike? is boring for the fans. They like the excitement of jumping over chairs and diving into the scorer's table. This game is filled with these situations.
Jazzmien just blocked a setter dump. She is getting a lot smarter on the net, and she?s not doing to bad in the back row either. Brynn is on the bench, and every so often I hear, ?Amy, you?re awesome!? The winner of this game will be whoever has the momentum last.
27 all- Crystal gets a block!
28 all- Drea gets a kill!
29 all- Drea tips!
But the last play is the one that matters. La. Tech takes home the win, 31-29.
