Mary Walczuk took the trash out of her head.
It made for a better performance at home this time, as the sophomore’s 13 kills helped lead Emporia State to a 30-20, 30-27, 30-25 victory over Missouri Southern Wednesday night at White Auditorium.
Walczuk struggled in the home opener a week ago, posting four errors and just one kill in ESU’s 3-1 loss to No. 7 Central Missouri.
“My confidence level dropped and was up and down,” Walczuk said. “I worried too much about making mistakes and didn’t focus too much on the good things I can do.”
She met with coach Bing Xu about the problem, and he encouraged her not to think so much while on the court.
“She’s worried about her position and things,” Xu said. “I just told her, ‘If you worry about too much — if you have too much garbage in your head — you can’t play, you can’t focus. Go there and do your job.’”
Walczuk did more than was expected of her Wednesday, as she notched a team-high 13 kills and posted an impressive .481 attack percentage.
Her percentage was all the way up to .636 after Game Two.
“I cleared my mind and didn’t think about it,” Walczuk said, “and just went in there and did it.”
Walczuk and the rest of the Hornets played well from the start.
With Game One tied at 16, ESU went on an 11-1 run to take a commanding 27-17 lead. Brianne Boner and Arica Shepard started the scoring with blocks, with Ting Liu later contributing a pair of aces.
“The first game, we were charging and fighting on every single ball,” Xu said.
The Hornets used a 6-0 run in Game Two to take a 12-8 advantage.
ESU later led 29-24 before Southern scored three consecutive points to cut the margin to 29-27, forcing Xu to use a timeout.
“We were sitting back, a little bit relaxed on the court,” Xu said. “We were letting them give us the points instead of us going there and taking it.”
Megan Koster ended the drama, putting down a kill to give ESU the second game.
The Hornets trailed 15-10 in Game Three before scoring 20 of the next 30 points.
Walczuk had six kills in the final game.
“You could see tonight,” ESU coach Bing Xu said, “she was on.”
Shepard matched Walczuk with 13 kills in the match, while Boner added 11.
Kristin Fletcher contributed four solo blocks.
ESU (10-4) will play two consecutive road matches — traveling to play Fort Hays State and Rockhurst — before its next home date against Pittsburg State on Sept. 22.
Walczuk didn’t expect her worrisome thoughts to make another appearance.
“The first (home match), it was all in my head,” Walczuk said, “and I’m glad I got it out.”
Wednesday at Emporia
Missouri Southern 20 27 25
Emporia State 30 30 30
Kills — Missouri Southern 46 (Sarah Hoffmeister 13), Emporia State 54 (Mary Walczuk, Arica Shepard 13). Digs — Missouri Southern 52 (Kari Hammerbacher 15), Emporia State 60 (Amy Byfield 15). Assists — Missouri Southern 44 (Sarah Joles 31), Emporia State 51 (Ting Liu 41).
Att — 305. Time — 1:31.
Records — Missouri Southern 9-5, 0-1 MIAA; Emporia State 10-4, 1-1 MIAA.