SFU lost a heartbreaker Thursday night playing against the Central Washington Wildcats, losing 15–12 in the fifth set to cause their second straight loss.
“I thought we played well enough to win,” said Head Coach Gina Schmidt. “They had an outstanding blocking night, I think that was the difference.”
Central Washington played a strong defensive game — 21 blocks to SFU’s seven — making sure that the Clan had a hard time finishing rallies.
SFU started the first set well, gaining the first two points of the match, including one off a kill by sophomore outside hitter Christine Howlett, who along with Devon May led SFU in kills with 15 each. The Clan would continue to rack up the points, leading the Wildcats 8–4.
However, the Wildcats eventually clawed their way back into the set — taking control of the action, and making the first set 25–20.
SFU answered right back, winning the second set 25–16, with four consecutive points to wrap up the set.
For the third set, SFU looked as if it would carry the momentum from the second set, opening the set with three consecutive points. However, Wildcat point streaks — separate four point runs and five point runs — came to haunt the Clan, despite their near comeback: they racked up four straight points and cut a six point lead to two before Central Washington claimed the set 25–22.
The fourth set saw the Wildcats with an opportunity to put the game away, and win it in four; for a while, they had the upper hand, leading SFU at various points throughout the set. However, an unanswered five points by a hardworking Clan team forced a set five, giving SFU a 25–20 victory in set four.
Despite some hard working rallies at the beginning of the set, SFU dropped the fifth set 15–12, with six of Central Washington’s points coming from SFU attack errors. And despite losing the game 3–2, SFU actually led in scoring — 75–73 in total points in SFU’s favour — as well as kills, with SFU’s 58 to the Wildcats’ 51.
Coach Schmidt listed errors — SFU had 42 to Central Washington’s 25 — as something the team needs to work on.
“We clearly are able to slow teams down defensively, now we just have to be a little more efficient on offence. We actually scored more kills than them, but almost doubled their number of errors — that kills our hitting percentage,” she explained.
With the loss, SFU Volleyball drops below .500 with a 9–10 overall record and 5–6 record in the conference.
