photo by Zachary Weiss
The Point Park volleyball team celebrates after winning a point in the fourth set of its match against Shippensburg University.
Point Park volleyball coach Mike Bruno has consistently told his team about having culture of trust which entails trusting each other, being confident and playing fearless volleyball.
With five losses in its past seven matches, the team has lost some of this mindset as the regular season ended and the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) Tournament begins Friday.
“We have been underachieving lately,” Bruno said. “We are working very hard in the gym to bring back that culture of trust we had earlier in the season.”
The Pioneers finished their season at 24-15 and are ranked second in the KIAC Tournament ahead of Indiana University Kokomo because when the two teams met earlier, Point Park won in five sets.
Point Park had one match last Tuesday at Shippensburg University. The Pioneers lost the match 3-1. Point Park finished the season with a 4-6 road record.
Freshman right side hitter Ashley Taylor had 14 kills in the match but despite her performance, was not pleased that the team lost.
“It was a really close game in the first set,” Taylor said. “I don’t know what happened, but in the second and third set we kept letting up, and that’s not fair to us as a team to keep doing this to ourselves.”
Point Park opened the first game winning 11 of the first 15 points, but only won the opening set 26-24, needing more than the usual 25 points it takes to claim victory. At one point, the Pioneers were down 24-23, a point away from dropping the first set before taking the final three points to claim the opening game.
Game two featured two key moments. With Shippensburg up 14-10, the Pioneers cut the deficit to one and then a medical timeout was called. When Point Park did not respond out of the medical timeout, Bruno called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Bruno was upset that he was given one minute instead of 1:15.
Shippensburg is an NCAA Division II school and by NCAA rules, a timeout is 1:15 unless both coaches are consulted and agree to a different length. Bruno told the referee that he was not consulted before the match. Shippensburg won the set 25-14 meaning after the medical timeout, the Pioneers won one point. In between sets two and three, Bruno was given a yellow card when continuing to talk about timeout length.
Point Park dropped the third game 25-15.
The fourth game was close and the Pioneers led 20-19, but Shippensburg won three consecutive points to take control of the set ultimately winning it 25-22 to take the match.
The KIAC Tournament will be played at Point Park Friday and Saturday with the first match scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday and the last 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
An emphasis will be placed in practice on the culture of trust and that each day will be vital.
“We have to act like it’s a new day and start fresh,” Taylor said. “If we play like we did Tuesday, there’s no way we’re going to make it past our first round of play.”
Point Park has an 11-1 record at home and will first face the winner of a match between Carlow University and Brescia University Friday at 7 p.m. at the Student Center Gym.
Bruno still believes strongly that the Pioneers have the potential to fare well in the tournament as long as they play together.
“I am confident in this team, they need to be too,” Bruno said. “Great things will happen if they are.”
