Mills Cyclone Volleyball team lost in a three-set game (19-25, 20-25, 14-25) to the West Coast Baptists Thursday night in Haas Pavilion in its second game of the season on Sep. 3. Although the Cyclones were shut out against their opponents, their consistent support and team spirit gave them the motivation to maintain a solid match.
The Cyclones had a rough start to the game with inconsistent hits and sets that gave West Coast an eight point lead by the middle of the first set. Head Coach Loke Davis made sure her team finished the set strong.
“[The team] did a good job of working on the rotations that we have been working on,” Davis said. “I threw something new at them in game three and they managed it very well.”
Faced with new rotation strategies, the Cyclones were able to keep up with their opponents after taking advantage over the West Coast’s slump to take the lead before their opponents bounced back to take set two.
Co-captain Miranda Crothers led the team with consistent passes and attacks, scoring ten points and serving two aces that would even out the score in set two.
“I really tried to strategize my serves this time,” Crothers said. “I noticed that they were really pushed far back near the line so I would serve short.”
Crothers’s highlight of the night was hitting an unusual backwards block over her shoulder to score a point for the Cyclones. Originally trying to tip it, Crothers and the West Coast hitter were in a pushing duel, resulting in Crother’s abnormal hit.
Passer Amber Meza had a solid game that helped her team catch up to West Coast. Her powerful spikes helped her score eight points and have ten digs.
“Sometimes you get funky balls and those situations get tricky, but I think I was pretty consistent throughout,” Meza said.
So far, Davis has noticed progress in her team in making stronger serves after their opponents call for a time out. She was especially impressed with how the time outs would not break the Cyclones’ concentration and momentum.
Although the team has quickly become a unified front this season, Davis believes that there is room for improvement like experimenting with new rotations. She wants her team to know multiple rotations so that in case of a changeup during a game, the players are prepared
Already having her eyes set for winning the next game against West Coast, Davis plans to implement new drills in practice for the next time these two teams face again.
“We started off a really fresh team with a lot of new players,” Meza said. “It’s only the second week and it’s only growing from here.”
