Moments before Tuesday’s match, one player injured herself, but the Chargers still secured another victory against Tiffin University.
As the team began to set up the nets before the match, senior setter Lindsay Mertz sliced open her hand and had to get seven stitches. She was unable to compete, and sophomore setter Madeline Zenas took her place.
“That was different, but we have been training for all kinds of situations,” head coach Chris Gravel said. “The lineup that we practiced on Monday was actually with our second center, so we were prepared.”
Although Mertz’s injury was unexpected, the team quickly adjusted and kept their energy strong.
“Anytime you change your setter, you’re changing the tempo of the offense,” Gravel said. “Lindsay, having as much experience as she has, has really started to click with how fast she’s running the offense. On Tuesday, the hitters’ timing was off a little bit but then each set it got better. By the last set, it looked pretty good.”
After adapting to the new tempo of the offense, the team beat Tiffin in another three-set sweep.
“We have all trained and been trained to be comfortable playing any position,” senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen said. “Our team is so deep that I am confident we could put any number of players out on the court and still obtain the same result, similar to what we did last night.”
The team has consistently been beating its competition in three-set sweeps all season, and Van Wienen attributes this to their energy and momentum.
“The energy has been pretty incredible this whole year,” Van Wienen said. “Last year we had 19 people on the team, so it didn’t take too much effort to be one of the loudest cheering teams. This year there are a few less of us, but we have brought the energy up and maintained it all season.”
Gravel complimented his players on their energy as well, and said that they are continuing to work harder in practice on their serves and passing.
“Sometimes the team is tired coming in because of classes and everything, but they quickly are able to find a place within themselves to play at a high level,” Gravel said. “We want to continue to serve tough, and we want to continue to improve our passing and getting the back row more in on the offense.”
This weekend the team will play Ohio Dominican University on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., and Gannon University, a 2019 Elite Eight non-conference team, on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
“ODU has come out of their shell a bit this year and put together what seems to be their strongest lineup out of the four years I’ve been here, so they are definitely a team that is not to be overlooked,” Van Wienen said. “We are also looking forward to playing Gannon on Saturday. Gannon has been a very solid team these past years and I expect nothing less than a battle from them.”