By Megan Rawls
Staff Writer
The women’s volleyball team won 3-1 against Presbyterian College in their final game of the regular season, giving them their 11th win and a confidence boost as they begin Conference tournament Thursday.
“Even though we won the game, you want to do it right, so that when they press you, like we knew that they would somewhere in the match, we we’re on top and we don’t fall apart,” Torbett said.
The Bulldogs played a sloppy first match, according to head coach Julie Torbett. Freshman Kelsey Benorden and sophomore Lauren Ficker tied for kills with 15 each, and the Bulldogs finished the match with 68 total kills.
“I don’t think they were a bad team, but I think we came out stronger, and we weren’t going to lose, because it’s senior day,” said senior Ashley Wrightenberry. “We’ve lost a lot this year, and we just want to have good confidence going into the tournament next week.”
Sophomore Bridget Holliday led defense with 20 digs. Benorden contributed 16 digs, and Raquel Miotto added another 13 digs. The Bulldogs took a quick two-point lead for the second game. The team struggled to keep the lead throughout the match, but managed to take the win with a final score of 30-24.
“We just let them come back at times when we should have shut them down, so they had a good game, and we didn’t fight back the way we should have,” said sophomore Kaitlyn McDaniel.
Presbyterian led the third game, but the Bulldogs kept the score close, until Presbyterian won 30-25.
“Emotions were high. That comes from being a young team, not having a lot of wins,” Torbett said. “That team has a winning record and has had a very good season, and I think that the fact we jumped on them for the first two games really hurt them, because they don’t know how to lose, and we are just now figuring out how to win.”
The Bulldogs lost focus in the third game according to Wrightenberry.
“We fell a little in the third game, and we let our focus down a little, and communication, but overall, I think it was a good win,” Wrightenberry said.
Holliday said the team was overconfident after the first two games, which helped Presbyterian win the third game.
“I think we just lost our focus there, but we were able to pick it back up in the last game,” Holliday said.
The Bulldogs recovered for the fourth and final game, and won 30-22.
“Well, of course, we like to win. On senior day, and we everything that was going on, bulldog bash, a good crowd, we of course like to produce a win,” Torbett said.
The team held a post-game homage to Wrightenberry, the only senior on the team, who played her final home match Saturday.
“We were really excited we pulled off the win, mostly for Ashley, because it was all about here today,” McDaniel said.
The Bulldogs will play High Point University at their first tournament match this week.
“High Point was the team that we wanted to play, and I definitely think that we’re going to go in with confidence, knowing that we can beat them,” Wrightenberry said.
The team will be the underdogs in tournament play, with few wins for the season according to Torbett.
“I never would have thought we’d be in this situation,” Torbett said. “I really think I have a talented team, and a team that certainly should have put more W’s up there than we did, but I’m willing to be patient and work though the process of learning this game and having a great experience.”
“It will take high energy and team effort to take a win against High Point,” McDaniel said. “If we play a good strategy, they can’t beat us,” she said.
Several of the Bulldogs said the were confident about the match against High Point.
“I really think that we’re going to pound them, honestly,” Wrightenberry said.
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