Curtis Meyer sports editor
Pitt State volleyball has seen its fair share of ups and downs this season, but last week ended on a positive note for the Gorillas, as they defeated the Newman Jets in three sets to complete the season sweep and bring them back to .5oo.
“I thought that our setters did a really good job of giving all six of our hitters the ball, there was a pretty good distribution. There was good production there, our serves were really tough. I think going forward, we just needed that win to kind of just get us on a roll headed into a big weekend on the road,” said head coach Jen Gomez.
Pitt State also collected its 700th program win, an important milestone for the history of Pitt State volleyball. It was an even game for both teams, as the Gorillas won 25-18, 25-20, and 25-20. In the first set, Pitt State rushed out to a 22-12 lead, before allowing the Jets to go on a run. The second set was back and forth, before the Gorillas finally pulled away winning three straight plays. The third set was all Pitt State, as they got the lead early and never let up, allowing them to come away with the win.
“We had a hard weekend the weekend before, we need to put things together and get right again. We are still trying to get our other outside hitter Ivy Fink who hurt her ankle two weeks ago back, so we have been trying to get into that rhythm. It’s always good to win in that fashion, in three,” said Gomez.
The win will certainly give the Gorillas some more confidence as they head into an important part of their schedule. Sitting at 10-10 overall, and 5-5 in conference play, Pitt State sits right on the bubble of the MIAA tournament teams. With just six games remaining in the season, the Gorillas will need to bear down on the remainder of the schedule in order to have a shot at making the conference tournament.
“That’s what you’re playing for, you are playing to get into the MIAA tournament. Right now, we are standing at seventh, 5-5 in conference games, and they take the top eight. These next six games, you have got to be playing your best ball towards the end here. We need to come away from this staying in the top eight. We know we can’t make the top one or two, because we didn’t set ourselves up early on, but we need to get up as high as we can in these rankings, what you are seeded determines who you play in the tournament,” said Gomez.
Pitt State will begin their home stretch of games on the road, facing Nebraska Kearney on Friday before traveling to face Fort Hays on Saturday. Kearney is currently ranked fifth in the country, setting up the Gorillas will a tall task as they try to play their way into the MIAA tournament.
