Emporia State vollyball players Amy Byfield, Megan Koster and Arica Shepard weep during the awards ceremony at the South Central Regional Volleyball Tournament in White Arena on Sunday. ESU was swept in the championship game by Truman State
The greatest season in school history ended in a way no one could have predicted for the Emporia State volleyball team on Sunday at White Auditorium.
Truman, a team ESU had beaten twice this season, ended Emporia State’s season for a third straight year. The Hornets got off to a bad start, their second serve hitting the net, the third sailing long, and they would never recover, losing in three sets: 25-15, 25-14, 25-18.
“We probably were a little bit too nervous, probably were psyching ourselves out,” Arica Shepard said. “We just didn’t show up today and Truman definitely did. They played their heart out today, and they did what they had to do.”
The Hornets opened the regional tournament looking like the team that achieved so many firsts this season. The first to win an MIAA championship — which they won by two games over Truman. The first to be seeded No. 1, and first ESU team to host a regional. The trend continued, as they swept their first two opponents to reach their first regional final.
However, the run ended as they looked like a team playing in its first championship game, while Truman played like the team that has now won five regional titles since 2001.
“I think we let something get into our heads in front of a big crowd,” ESU coach Bing Xu said. “We had some times we could have taken advantage of things, but we just let the pressure get to us. ... We were trying very, very hard tonight, but it’s very simple: When you don’t show up at the beginning, it’s really hard to take it back.”
Xu did everything he could to change the momentum. He subbed in seldom-used reserves Kaley Miller and Katelyn Kaiser. He called all six of his timeouts during the match.
But the Hornets just were not themselves. Ting Liu, who usually is in perfect harmony with her hitters, had two straight passes sail over the heads of her hitters during the second set. The Bulldogs also seemed to anticipate where the passes were going and had 12 blocks, compared to only three for the Hornets.
The Hornets could never string together more than three points in a row, which they only did three times. They had a season-low negative-.044 hitting percentage. Shepard had a season-low three kills, and MIAA player of the year Liu had a season-low 19 assists.
Shepard averaged 16 kills in the first two matches of the regional, and Liu averaged 45.5 assists, the tandem appearing unstoppable.
“That’s why Emporia tore up West Texas. They had never experienced her (Liu) and we had experienced her here, and same result,” Truman coach Jason Skoch said. “So it helped to know Emporia and it helped to know how good she was. That experience paid off big time.”
The Bulldogs’ experience and all of the season lows for the Hornets were more than enough to give them their fourth loss this season.
They return a strong nucleus next season, but they lose senior starters Hannah Carter and Megan Koster, two players who played a key role in helping the Hornets to their best winning percentage in school history.
“We were number one in the region, which might have been a curse, but I know we’ve come a long ways,” Koster said.
The Hornets’ nerves during the match turned into tears after it, as they watched someone else celebrate for the first time all year at White Auditorium.
“I’m going to remember this feeling,” Shepard said, “and hopefully not have to feel it again.”
Notes
• All-Tournament team: Klaudia Grelowska, Pittsburg State; Allie Huffman, Central Missouri; Paula Harris, Central Missouri; Natalie Johnson, West Texas A&M; Laura Prinsen, West Texas A&M; Arica Shepard, Emporia State; Brittney Miller, Emporia State; Ting Liu, Emporia State; Allie Chevren, Truman; Lauren Graybeal, Truman; Eli Medina, Truman; Melissa Keck, Truman.
• The tournament drew a total of 6,649 fans for the seven matches and was the best-attended of the eight NCAA Division II volleyball regionals.
Comments
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TacoBellB (anonymous) says...
Can someone please educate the ESU Cheer Squad on how to cheer for different sports?! With a sport like Volleyball, that is all about momentum, perhaps the cheerleaders could do fewer pyramids and stunts that don't involve the crowd and could actually focus on getting the crowd/team pumped up. I was very disappointed in the ESU cheer squad (the few who were there). Truman State's parents were louder just because they were organized yelling "Truman State" while our cheerleaders chose to do a longer version cheer "C'mon crowd yell E-S-U, E-S-U", so our crowd basically had to sit silent for a sentence then finally yell ESU. It was a joke.
Although it was a disappointing end to their season the volleyball players deserve a great deal of respect for what they accomplished and it was great to see such a large turnout this weekend to support them.
November 24, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slvmblk (anonymous) says...
Taco,
You posted the same thing (essentially) under the name ESUFan here:
http://www.esubulletin.com/forums/vie...
I think you just have it out for Cheerleaders. What's wrong, didn't make the cut? Cheering doesn't really determine the outcome of the game. Especially when it's a sweep.
November 24, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slvrnblck (anonymous) says...
slvmblk--
Quit using other people's usernames!! Be creative enough to come up with your own.
November 24, 2008 at 4:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eatasheep69 (anonymous) says...
Taco is right.
The ESU crowd has often been disappointingly quiet for many different sports, including this weekend's championship final, especially when the Hornet's needed some emotional support. I have no ill feelings towards the tiny group of ESU cheerleaders present at the volleyball game, but they really didn't do anything to rally the crowd. I watched some of the other teams' cheerleaders at other matches over the weekend and they did more to inspire their (fewer) fans.
On a brighter note, the ESU volleyball team had an amazing season this year. I was very impressed by how many fans came to the game yesterday and other games this season. This is a great measure of what an awesome team and program Emporia State has now. Congratulations Hornets on a fantastic season. I can hardly wait for next season!
GO HORNETS!
November 24, 2008 at 10:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TacoBellB (anonymous) says...
slv #1
No I do not have it out for the cheerleaders - they are a very talented bunch and I could certainly never do all the stunts they can, but I do know what it takes to rally a crowd and they sure didn't do it. Thought I was giving them advice for next time. And if you really believe that cheering can't help determine the outcome of a game then you have obviously never been an athlete (of a sport other than cheerleading) - it's called momentum and it can certainly swing things.
November 25, 2008 at 7:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )