The Hiram College Terriers men’s volleyball team has worked hard to put last year’s mistakes behind them. Those bad habits came crawling back when the Terriers squandered multiple leads and were swept by Arcadia University 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 but rebounded with a 25-20, 25-14, 23-25 and 25-19 victory against Olivet College in a tri-match last Saturday at Hiram College’s Price Gymnasium.
“We were disappointed we dropped the first one and had a lead at the end of every set and just struggled to finish it out so that was disappointing,” said Coach Glen Conley. “The way we rebounded and played the second set, I think was impressive, so I think we learned a lot from it.”
According to the third-year coach, Hiram (7-4, 1-0) has broken down each set to three facets; the scoring range of 0-10, the mid-game score of 11-19 and the end game score from 20-25. Last Saturday, the Terriers had the first two parts of each set down perfectly but could not finish off the Knights.
Conley acknowledged that once Hiram let the first set slip away 25-20, it was a slippery slope from there.
“When we were not able to do that, that set the tone,” he added. “We came out and played well and did some good things in every set, but we just fell short when it was crunch time in every one of them.”
Last season, the Terriers lost too many five-set matches to count resulting in an 8-16 record. Having not graduated anyone from last year’s squad, those same players have returned this season with a killer instinct, seeking to finish off its opponents and not let them linger.
Conley said that at one point it seemed like his squad was afraid to make a mistake on a play and that timid play proved costly.
“You have to keep swinging and you have to keep being aggressive and sometimes when you get into that situation, you think I do not want to make an error here and you do not hit as hard as you normally would,” he noted. “You sort of back off a little bit and then the other team takes advantage of that if they are being aggressive.”
Against Arcadia, the Terriers could not seize any momentum and continued letting late leads slip away in the second and third sets sending them to a defeat. Hiram’s offensive inefficiency was highlighted with only an 11% kill rate. Despite 17 tie scores in the last two sets, Hiram could not close out its opponent.
In the second match, the Terriers did not make the same mistakes and dominated Olivet. After winning the first set by a 25-20 margin, the Hiram overwhelmed the Comets 25-14 in the second set. The Comets staved off defeat by surviving the third set with a 25-23 victory and Conley said his team did not want to let Olivet force a decisive fifth set.
“Once you get into a fifth set anything is going to happen and it is only a 15-point set so we had to show a lot of grit and determination in that and we were able to do it,” he said. “That is the biggest thing we were able to take out of that.”
Conley said Olivet played very disciplined in the fourth set, committing only five errors so the Terriers had to earn points and did so, scoring 20 points on offense to close out the Comets and salvage the day.
One of Hiram’s biggest strengths this season has been not waiting for their opponents to make mistakes and taking the initiative and it showed when it finished off the Comets in the fourth set.
After averaging between eight and nine kills per set last season, the Terriers’ offense has become more lethal by recording between 11 to 12 kills in sets this season.
Another part of Hiram’s game that has improved is its defense and it is one of the leading teams in the Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference in blocks per game.
Conley noted that Hiram has enjoyed most of the benefits of returning the same squad from last season and avoided most of the pitfalls that also come with bringing back the same team.
“I told the guys at the end of last season that the good news is that we have everybody back and the bad news is that we have everybody back, because if we do the same thing that we did last year, then it is a bad thing but if we make changes and if we can mentally overcome some things and can grow as a team and as individuals then it is a really good thing,” he added.
Following a home contest against the University of Mount Union on Tuesday evening, the Terriers will hit the road and face Wittenberg University and Wabash College in another tri-match in Columbus on Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m.
