Lady Dogies struggle

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Once again this week, the Lady Dogies volleyball squad played their conference opponents close, but unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Head coach Jenny Willard commented that her team showed moments of great play in last week’s contests against Torrington and Wheatland, but were unable to maintain the momentum to take a win from their opponents.
“I keep saying it, but it’s true that we are just so close to winning sets instead of losing them,” Willard insisted. “It really is a matter of winning two balls instead of one, and the outcome of our matches could be very different. That’s how close we are.”
It was evident to anyone in attendance at last Tuesday’s matchup against the Lady Blazers of Torrington that Newcastle was definitely in the game. In the first set, Newcastle led the Goshen County squad right up until the end when Torrington came back to take the win 26-24. 
“We played pretty well all night, but we need to take advantage of when they are in a mental slump,” Willard began. “I think they missed six or seven serves that we didn’t capitalize on, so we need to continue to work on finishing.”
Unfortunately, after the Lady Blazers took the momentum, they did not relinquish it and went on to defeat Newcastle in the second and third sets, 25-12 and 25-21 respectively.
“We lacked mental toughness in the last two sets and I think maybe that was because we got discouraged after losing that first set,” Willard frowned. “Volleyball is a game of errors and runs and we just have to get better at brushing off the effects of when they go on a run to be able to stop it and go on one of our own.”
The struggle continued for the Lady Dogies as they travelled to Wheatland to take on the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday, where they lost in three straight sets — 15-25, 22-25, and 22-25.
“We missed way too many serves and made a lot of our own unforced errors,” Willard sighed. “We sent too many free balls over instead of driving the ball hard. We got outplayed and outworked.”
Despite having an “off” day, Newcastle still was within striking distance of the Lady Bulldogs which Willard admitted is a trend that continues to haunt the team.
“We had our moments but there were also moments of separation where we got down and stayed there,” she stated. “We have the skill, but we need to put everything together and have the confidence to play like we can. We tend to play to survive rather than play to kill and that needs to change.”
As the Lady Dogies head into the second half of their season, Willard is committed to shifting her team’s mindset to expecting to win, rather than hoping to win. 
“Scores and lost sets aren’t really indicative of this team’s potential, and the beginning of the season doesn’t tell the end of the season,” she began. “Once we get one of those feel-good wins, I think that’s all it’s going to take. They need to know what that feels like. They’re right there, but I don’t think they realize that.”
According to Willard, this week the team has begun the process of righting the ship as they focus on upcoming contests against Douglas at home on Thursday and Sundance away on Friday. 
“We’re focusing on the highs and looking forward rather than back,” she declared. “We are just working on taking care of business on our end such as limiting unforced errors and playing to kill rather than to survive.”
The match against Douglas on Thursday is also the annual Pink match to raise awareness for breast cancer. Autographed pink volleyballs from each team will be auctioned off and Pink cancer bracelets are for sale.