On Thursday evening, the SFU Clan volleyball team took on the Saint Martin’s University Saints at the West Gym on Burnaby Campus. After struggling out of the gate in 2017 due to a road-heavy schedule to start the season, the Clan got their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) win behind them at home by a score of three sets to one. After dominating early, the team showed signs of early-season form, but were able to pull off the exciting victory in the fourth set.
Starting out the season in front of a home crowd definitely helped, explained head coach Gina Schmidt in a post-game interview with The Peak.
“It definitely is nice [starting at home], especially because we had a long flight and trip to Hawaii and then another trip to California back to back, so it is nice not to be back on the road again [ . . . ] and then to be in front of our home crowd is also really nice.”
SFU won the first two sets comfortably by scores of 25–19 and 25–13. Just when it looked like the team would coast to victory, however, they struggled mightily in a challenging third set.
The team combined for a .175 kill percentage in the third set, including eight errors, much lower than the .366 and .382 percentages they put up in the first two sets. As things went down to the wire, a rotation error caused the Clan to go into the last few points without their typical lineup, as explained by Schmidt after the game. A service error by SFU followed by a service ace by the Saints gave the visitors a 26–24 set win, as well as the momentum heading into what would be the final set.
While the fourth set was close, the Clan ended up on top. Senior Lauren Fridman was crucial down the stretch, getting the final two points for SFU via a block and a electrifying kill to seal the set at 25–23 and give her team the victory.
“There’s still some things we need to clean up [ . . . ] but always happy with the win,” said Schmidt post game.
That was the general consensus in the building. While things looked shaky at times, particularly in the third set, getting their first victory behind them is huge for the Clan considering that early season struggles cost them a playoff berth last season. The team knows that they will have to play consistently throughout the season in order to meet their goal of playing in the national tournament come season’s end.
Peak player of the game: Kirsten Pinkney
Leading the team with 18 kills while also contributing a block, Pinkney was huge for the Clan throughout the contest. After coming out firing in the first two sets, she had six kills and a block in the final set and was a major factor in her team’s first GNAC win of the season.
What’s next:
SFU will now host Seattle Pacific University on Saturday, September 8. The Falcons finished one place below the Clan in the GNAC last season with a record of 10–10. The game starts at 7 p.m.
