Caitlin Dorsch, Copy Desk Chief~
On Wednesday, September 26, the Lynchburg Volleyball team defeated their first Old Dominion Athletic Conference opponent, Ferrum College, in a thriving five sets (25-23, 25-12, 22-25, 10-25, and 15-5). The Junior class stepped up for the Lady Hornets, specifically outside Sydney Frink, libero Lauren Stanford, and setter Erin Farina. On Saturday, September 29, the team split two ODAC matches, being defeated by Roanoke in three sets (24-26, 19-25, and 23-25) but defeating Eastern Mennonite University in four sets (25-18, 25-18, 19-25, and 25-17).
After winning their first two sets in the match, Ferrum College launched a comeback against the Lady Hornets. However, during the fifth set, the Lady Hornets were closed out the match. Stanford said, “Our game against Ferrum College was inconsistent, but we bounced back in the fifth set. We are working on having consistent play and, for us to do that, it helps us to focus on our teammates and playing for each other because we work better as a team, not simply as six individuals on the court.”
Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Lavelle said, “Focusing on the team allows us to bounce back from a mistake because [we] are focused on the team’s success rather than our own.”
“[The ODAC] is a hard conference to be in because team’s just simply refuse to lose without a fight. Crazy things happen in the ODAC regular season and in the ODAC tournament that none of the fans would guess,” remarks Stanford. The toughness of their conference is one of the reasons why the Lady Hornets schedule many out-of-conference matches prior to ODAC play beginning. Stanford contends that these games be used as a tool to be completely prepared come the regular ODAC play that the team just began.
The team continues their ODAC play on Wednesday, October 3, at Hollins University at 7:30 p.m. then travel to Washington and Lee University on Saturday, October 6 for a double-header match first against Washington and Lee University at 12 p.m. and later against a non-ODAC opponent Stevenson University at 2:15 p.m.