PRATT, Kans.- Unable to swing a pair of early sets in their favor, the Beavers were swept in straight sets by the Colby Community College Trojans (26-28, 21-25, 12-15).
Olivia Hessman led the Beavers in assists yet again with 18, while also recording a team-high six kills. Kylee Harman had five kills of her own on 17 attempts, with Haylee Parker and Kylie Fletcher aiding the Beavers back line with 15 and 10 digs respectively.
Following a thrilling Sept. 11 home match against Hutchinson Community College where his team narrowly fell in five sets to the Blue Dragons, Coach Rambo again saw today his team struggle to capitalize late.
"It was a whole bunch of little things, and it was never the same little things," Rambo said. "We would correct one thing, and one thing would fall off. We would fix one thing, and that thing would fall off. We were like a 1970's truck."
The Beavers held a lead late in the first set, as far as a first set score of 23-21, though a veteran Trojans squad eventually stormed back to a 26-28 finish. From a distance, failing to put a cap on an extended set should put a dent in a team's psyche. Though, Coach Rambo says that he expects more from his squad.
"We've done that before, and we've responded before," Rambo said. "We've done it against Hutch, we've done it against a whole bunch of teams. We've been up late, and sometimes we can either respond and finish, or sometimes we end up dropping the set and come back and play well in the next set. We did that today.
"Some of our freshmen got a little but undisciplined, made some silly mistakes. I wouldn't say those kind of sets are demoralizing us at all, but we have to be able to find girls that want to put the ball away."
Coach Rambo recognizes that the Beavers are working towards the same level of success that the likes of, for example, Colby, Hutchinson and Seward County have maintained for some time. His team will continue to enter matchups such as today as the decided underdog, and veteran teams such as the aforementioned have established themselves as winners because of their ability to be controlled in a frenzy.
Coach Rambo says that his team is still learning how to stay collected in the chaos of a pressure-filled rally or late in a set, and sometimes both at the same time.
"We have to do a better job of making sure that when things go wrong, we can fall back on our discipline, being in the right spot and doing the right things. Right now, we're pressing and trying to make too many plays that aren't our plays to make."
Volleyball returns to action on Monday, Sept. 16 in a conference matchup against Dodge City with a start time scheduled for 6:30 PM.