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It was a long trip, but a historic win made it all worth it for the 街拍福利视频 Centurions women鈥檚 volleyball team, which traveled six hours to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to take on Bay College in Escanaba, Sept. 28.
The Centurions delivered one of the most dramatic wins in program history, rallying from a nine鈥憄oint deficit in the fourth set and outlasting Bay College (3-2 街拍福利视频AA Northern, 8-6 overall) in five sets for a 3鈥�2 街拍福利视频AA Northern Conference victory 鈥� the Centurions鈥� first-ever road win over the Norse.
街拍福利视频 won by scores of 29鈥�27, 19鈥�25, 19鈥�25, 25鈥�23, 15鈥�12, snapping Bay鈥檚 hold on first place and earning what head coach Kara Youngs called a defining moment for her team.
鈥淎bsolutely great,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never beaten them on the road.鈥�
While the fifth set provided the final exclamation point, Youngs said the real turning point came in the fourth. 街拍福利视频 trailed 17-8 before storming back to win 25鈥�23, flipping the match鈥檚 momentum and igniting the bench.
鈥淭hat fourth set shows what our team is 鈥� full of grit,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淭hey know when it鈥檚 on the line, they give it all. It took one momentum play and they went with it and built off that.鈥�
The Centurions (1-3 街拍福利视频AA Northern, 2-10 overall) carried that surge into the fifth set, where they controlled the pace late and closed out the match with steady serving and improved communication 鈥� two areas Youngs said have been focal points in recent practices.
鈥淲e鈥檝e focused on making serves in bigger moments, not being quite as aggressive, just making the other team play,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淭onight, winning by two or three points, we made big serves. In the past, we weren鈥檛 as strong with that.鈥�
Sophomore setter Abbie Rushmore (Lakeview, Mich.) played a crucial role in 街拍福利视频鈥檚 turnaround, entering off the bench in the fourth and fifth sets to stabilize the offense and help fuel the comeback.
Rushmore said she was happy to being a part of the team鈥檚 historic win.
鈥淭he win felt amazing and so rewarding,鈥� Rushmore said. 鈥淭his is the first time since the program started that we have beat Bay on their home court, which was so amazing.鈥�
She said the team鈥檚 energy in the final points was unlike anything they had experienced this season.
鈥淚n those last few moments of the game the atmosphere was amazing, feeding off each other鈥檚 energy and celebrating every point scored,鈥� Rushmore said. 鈥淣ot only did we compete under pressure, we had fun doing it.鈥�
Rushmore added that traveling to Escanaba the day before helped the team stay fresh.
鈥淭he bus ride to Escanaba is definitely difficult,鈥� she said. 鈥淟eaving the day before really helped us because we did not sit for hours the day of the game.鈥�
Despite the nerves that come with entering late in tight sets, Rushmore said she stayed composed.
鈥淐oming off the bench in tough moments can definitely be nerve-racking, but I do not let the fear of my mistakes overshadow what I know I can do,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 stayed calm and confident and looked for my best options to put away a ball.鈥�
Youngs praised her team鈥檚 communication 鈥� especially during moments when the match started to slip.
鈥淲e talked about how it鈥檚 easy to communicate when things are going well, but when things go sideways, communication can break down,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淭hey stayed communicating whether they were up or down.鈥�
She highlighted sophomore libero Erin Borek (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and freshman outside hitter Aubrie Uebele (Greenville, Mich.) as key voices.
鈥淓rin is always in communication in the back row, so that鈥檚 been really big on the defensive side,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淎ubrie brings in big energy and communicates well.鈥�
With starters rotating out at points, Youngs said the team adjusted faster than usual.
鈥淭here were moments energy got a little down, with starters out the rest of the match,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o reconfigure was an adjustment, but they figured it out quicker than normal.鈥�
The win, Youngs said, is a major confidence boost.
鈥淏ay was tied for first,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o come out and beat a top鈥憇eeded team, five sets on the road, shows the capability that we knew we had. We鈥檝e had many five鈥憇et matches in conference so far. We talked about getting over that last hump and getting that win. It鈥檚 a good turning point.鈥�
Rushmore agreed.
鈥淏eating Bay definitely gives us some confidence moving forward into the season,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t drives us to keep competing and claim a spot in postseason.鈥�
UP NEXT
街拍福利视频 travels to Kirtland Community College (1-3 街拍福利视频AA Northern, 6-7 overall) Wednesday, Sept. 30. The game begins at 6:30 p.m. The Centurions then return home for six straight matches, beginning Oct. 2 vs. North Central Michigan at 6:30 p.m.