On Tuesday night, the Clan hosted the No. 7 ranked team in the nation: Western Washington University. The Vikings came into Burnaby as the only undefeated team in the GNAC. While they left still undefeated, the Clan put up quite the fight against such a strong team. Certainly, the support from the “Red Night” crowd helped the team as they almost pulled off a major upset.
Things didn’t start off so well, however, as Western Washington won the first set by a score of 25–19. While the Clan played well in the set, the Vikings showed off why they are such a highly touted team, rarely making mistakes and playing a very efficient brand of volleyball. Given that SFU have typically started off strong and struggled in later sets in their recent home games, this did not bode well for the team.
Things changed in the second set though, as SFU came back to play some of their best volleyball so far this season. With the crowd in full support of the team, they were able to pull off a huge 25–19 set win. One fifth of the points came from kills from Tessa May, who dominated in the middle for the entirety of the set.
The Clan kept the momentum going into the third set, and set the crowd into a frenzy in their 25–23 set win. This time it was Kirsten Pinkney who came up big in the set, leading the team with eight kills. Things were neck-to-neck for the entirety of the set, but Pinkney and May came up huge to close out the set win with kills for points 24 and 25.
As the teams headed into the fourth set, however, adjustments made by Western Washington allowed the visiting time to slow down SFU and eventually win the set — and the match. This is what head coach Gina Schmidt told The Peak via email about the matter:
“WWU made some changes in the fourth and fifth sets and I think we could have done a better job of adjusting a bit quicker. They brought in their other middle in the fourth set and she got some timely kills for them.”
With the adjustments, the Vikings would dominate the rest of the way, winning the fourth set 25–14 and the fifth set 15–8.
Despite this, there were a lot of positives to take away from the game, as said Schmidt.
“I think there are a lot of positives to take away from the game. Overall, we out-hit and out-dug WWU statistically. They are currently ranked #7 in the country and we showed we can hang right with them.”
With the loss, the Clan are now 3–4 in GNAC play this season, and 6–7 overall. Although this is not the ideal start, the team will still surely be in playoff contention by the end of the season. “We’ve been playing a lot of good volleyball this season and I think if we continue to work on our consistency we’ll get the results we’re looking for,” said Schmidt.
Peak player of the game: Kirsten Pinkney
Pinkney was vital in the Clan’s attack in this one, and the team was at its best when she was on. She led SFU with 20 kills and 21 total points.
What’s next:
The Clan will wrap up their home stand when they play Montana State University Billings on Friday night. The game starts at 7 p.m.
