Elon volleyball defeated Norfolk State University in a difficult, four-set affair Sept. 10 at Schar Center.
The Spartans got off to a hot start, jumping to a quick 7-3 lead thanks to a flurry of kills to begin the match. A lengthy point at 8-6 got Elon’s motivation back up, and after a strong serve by senior Sydney Love, the Phoenix tied it up.
After Elon tied it up, the two teams traded points in a back-and-forth volley. This streaky play led to an extremely tight first set. Despite Elon’s comeback to tie it up, Norfolk State didn’t relent their attack, notching 11 kills to Elon’s three halfway through the first set.
Elon refused to give up the first set, however; no better representation of this determination was found with senior defensive specialist Caroline Doyle going for the ball almost every point — knees sliding on the hardcourt floor as if she were on skates, only to jump right back up to high-five her teammates. Doyle’s efforts to keep morale up proved to be valuable when Elon finally took their first lead of the night 19-18. This lead gave the Phoenix the narrow advantage to pull away and finish out the set, winning 25-21. Despite being dominated in the box score — the Spartans finished with more kills, assists and digs — Elon demonstrated grit and pulled out a first set victory.
Elon volleyball players go up for the block in Schar Center against Norfolk State on Sept. 10.
With momentum on their side, Elon started the second set strong with a 4-0 lead, aided by an early ace and a kill.
After a few errors by Norfolk State, Elon pushed their lead to 8-3. The Phoenix ended up winning the second set 25-17, aided by the defensive efforts of Doyle who finished the game with 18 digs. Doyle is second in the CAA this season in digs with 131.
The third set started off with a burst of perseverance by the Spartans. Norfolk State refused to go out quietly, starting the third set 7-3. They minimized the errors that plagued them the previous two sets, and captured the set with ease — winning 25-16.
Elon began the fourth set well, going up 9-5 thanks to five early kills. Love, one of two team captains, led the team’s offensive surge in the fourth set. The fourth set was a polar opposite of the first set where they managed only four kills, as opposed to the final set where Elon notched 15 kills. Love finished with 12 kills and said this offensive surge improved as the game progressed.
“As the game went on, I think our passes helped a lot, and our setters were getting to positions and getting us good balls throughout the set,” Love said in an interview with Elon News Network. “We were either tooling them really well or we were finding open shots on the court.”
Senior Sydney Love prepares to serve in Schar Center on Sept. 10 against Norfolk State. Elon won the hard-fought, four-set game.
Elon head coach Mary Tendler praised the team’s offensive performance in the fourth set.
“I thought we did a good job offensively of making some clips of good plays together in a row to get excited about,” Tendler said in an interview with ENN. “Also, I think our serve was a little more aggressive and made it a little tougher for them to score.”
The Phoenix and the Spartans battled out the fourth set, the pendulum of momentum swinging to the other team every few plays. At 21-19, Tendler called a timeout, trying to motivate the Phoenix to close out the match. The timeout seemed to be enough, as Elon finished out the set 25-23, winning the match.
Love said the team regained focus between the third set and fourth set, and this newfound focus helped them find their way to a win.
“We had a good mental recheck for everyone,” Love said. “We just had to understand that we can't make the errors to give them points. We had to actually score the points for ourselves and let them make the errors. So, we had to control our energy on our side and not let the other side control it.”
Despite being dominated by the Spartans in the box score, Tendler credited Elon for making clutch plays when they needed it. She also praised the team’s patience throughout the ups and downs of the match.
“We had some very good sets, and then we had some like the first set where we only had four kills,” Tendler said. “So coming from a first set where we only got four kills, and improving as we go was really good.”