Emporia State needs one win for to become outright MIAA champions, and the Hornets couldn’t envision a better scenario to clinch than Friday’s game against Washburn at White Auditorium.
The Lady Blues are the only team in the MIAA that the Hornets have not beat this season.
“I think we’re looking for a little bit of revenge,” Arica Shepard said.
That’s a nice way of putting it. The Hornets have not been as upset about a loss as they were after their loss at Washburn. They didn’t just lose; they lost ugly.
And the Washburn students piled onto the Hornets’ misery, taunting the ESU players and yelling obscenities throughout the three-game sweep.
The ESU players want their fans to turn out in record numbers and be just as loud as the Washburn fans were last time around. Amy Byfield even created a Facebook group reminding her classmates of the abuse the Hornets took in Topeka.
“We want to be a little bit more classier than they were down there,” Shepard said. “Hopefully, they don’t get too crazy. We hope for a big turnout.”
For the the Hornets to win against the Lady Blues, they know they need to not let their emotions get in the way, which they admitted happened at Washburn.
“I think it’s mental. I definitely don’t think it’s technique-wise,” senior Hannah Carter said. “Things just get into our head and we lose the fight or desire, or we want it so bad that it just slips away. When you want something so bad sometimes, you mess up.”
Emporia State does not want to return to Topeka this season and that makes Friday’s game even more significant. The Hornets are currently ranked No. 1 in the regional rankings with the Lady Blues ranked second. The winner of Friday’s match will most likely host the regional tournament.
“I think it would be a huge advantage, because so far we haven’t lost a home game and that’s something we’re really proud of and want to keep doing,” Shepard said. “Having the regional here with all our fans and not so many of people’s other fans here would be a huge advantage for us.”
Emporia State has never hosted a NCAA regional. Before Tuesday, the Hornets had also never won an MIAA title, which they will at least share no matter what happens in their final two games.
The Hornets’ goal since last spring has been to win the league title. They believed they could do so, but not many others did. They were picked fifth in the preseason coaches poll even though they had the most experience returning of any team in the league.
“We looked at this team and thought we could be champions,” coach Bing Xu said.
They could lose on Friday and still be outright league champs with a win on Saturday at home against Fort Hays State, but that would be far from ideal.
“Definitely a lot better to get it on Friday,” Shepard said.
Xu added, “We want it to be a true title.”
socialmancan (anonymous) says...
GO HORNETS!!!
November 14, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )