Against the Montana State University-Billings Yellowjackets, SFU women’s volleyball was able to do something they haven’t done since preseason — and haven’t done in conference play in years: win a second straight game.
In what was the closest game of the season, the Clan needed all five sets to steal the victory, their second straight after defeating Alaska Fairbanks. SFU won the first, third, and fifth sets by scores of 25–20, 25–22, and 16–14, respectively, and lost the second and fourth sets both by 25–21 scores.
Junior Kelsey Robinson, one of the team’s captains, shone on offence, registering 24 kills, far and away the team lead. Fellow junior Amanda Renkema was second with 13. Robinson also had 18 digs on the day, good for second on the team, seven behind junior libero Alanna Chan.
“We knew we had to keep our heads in the game and to focus on the next play,” said Renkema of the back-and-forth affair. “We just needed to get the job done. We wanted to win really bad and everyone knew what they had to do and we really came together to get the victory.”
You’d have to go all the way back to the 2010 season to find the last time the Clan won back-to-back games within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) — then it was against MSUB and Saint Martin’s. The win only brought SFU’s record to 4–5 within the conference, but is a testament to the vast improvement the team has showed in 2013 under new head coach Gina Schmidt.
Unfortunately, the Clan couldn’t keep the momentum going, dropping their next game in four sets to Seattle Pacific on Oct. 26. It was another relatively tight game, with SPU and SFU splitting the first two sets 25–19 and 25–21, respectively, before the Clan dropped the next two 25–23 and 25–17.
Despite the loss, it was another strong effort from SFU. Robinson again lead the team in kills, with 21, while sophomore Tamara Nipp led the Clan with 21 assists.
Their record dropped to 4–6 within the GNAC, and the Clan aren’t satisfied in simply finding positives in losses anymore. They’re showing signs of life, but will need another win streak to do it.
