1997 Season Recap

February

Sun 9 Widener W 3-0
This was a fun match; the guys on Widener were really into the game, and so that got all of us into it as well. It was great to be able to play this well right out of the gate.

Sun 23 @Philly Textiles L 0-3
For this match we were without Dylan's setting, so Matt and Paul set a 6-2. Everyone was way out of position and didn't really know which end was up; we were too confused to win a single game.

March

Sun 23 @Haverford L 14-16, 0-15, 14-16
This could have been our best played match of the season, except for getting our doors blown off in the second game! Yikes!

Thurs 27 Washington W 15-4, 15-7, 15-10
Once again, we have everyone accounted for and we played very well.

April

Wed 2 Eastern L 4-15, 10-15, 12-15
This was the first of three matches without George Matula. Charlie filled in very handsomely at middle hitter, but our rotating substitute outside hitters were never in the match long enough to get comfortable.

Sat 5 @PCB L 5-15, 9-15, 13-15
We played very well here; looking like we were finally comfortable with our new, George-free lineup. We couldn't overcome PCB's game, though, and way too many missed serves killed us. My memory from this game is Kevin Scarre (their coach) saying at one point "the setter's dead" meaning that I was in the back row. The next ball I dumped over the net for a point!

(& LaSalle)L 3-15, 15-5, 13-15, 11-15
Wow! LaSalle's a lot better than they were last year! This one was played before the PCB match - we still weren't really comfortable with the lineup yet and didn't have our game heads on. The highlight was Dylan taking an attack from Andrew square on the nose. Didn't phase him. huh.

Mon 7 Rutgers L 15-12, 2-15, 4-15, 15-17
They didn't think that we could play, and we learned them in the first game for that. Once they woke up, the whupped us good for two games until we got psyched and played our best game of the season in the fourth. Unbelievable. Paul had some enormous saves and kills; he played out of his mind. We all did very well. And the final point was a lift. How lame is that? Whatever. we did exceedingly well and I had a great time. Paul and I really have our timing down well on the two-ball! heh heh heh....

Thu 10 Villanova L 12-15, 7-15, 2-15
For the second time this season, I felt a kinship with the opposing setter. He was taller than me and his hitters were absolutely monsterous, but other than that, Bobby and I played similar games. We both had one mishandle and a couple missed serves, and set well. We also both run the websites for our teams. Hey what's up, Jones? This match went well, though - they never really got into it, but they never really had to. Despite very disparate playing levels, and two exhausted captains, it was a good match.

Tue 15 West Chester W 15-9, 15-3, 1-15, 12-15, 15-6
This was the best match that Swarthmore volleyball has had since the days of Pete Stillman. We came storming out of the gate, and managed to claw our way to a first game win, and then they brought in their big gun to no avail; we whupped 'em even worse. Then they started playing all of a sudden in the third game; paying attention to serve and attack placement, good defense, etc. And we got too overconfident. Fourth game we couldn'e pull out, either, even though we had about fifty fans cheering us on! This was the last home match for Matt and Kevin, and the fans came out in force! So we went to the fifth game. Ever since the division has been playing rally format in the fifth game, Swarthmore has never won one. But today, we could side out, we didn't miss serves, and we went on a run with Charlie serving to take a 5-6 game to 15-6! I have never before had any sort of emotions in a volleyball game. What a wonderful experience...

Sat 19 Tournament at PCB
Last college appearances for Kevin and Matt; we had a pretty good time, but injuries to two key players limited us to a sole victory during the tournament. But even at the end, we were All Smiles.

R e s u l t s :
WinsLosses
Full Strength33
No George03
No Dylan01
Overall37


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