The Horned Frog volleyball team will try to bounce back this week after being swept by the Colorado State Rams last weekend, ending a three-match winning streak.The Frogs face Mountain West Conference opponents UNLV and San Diego State at home this weekend, and senior defensive specialist Calli Corley said the teams will definitely present a challenge to the Frogs.
“They both finished in the upper half of the conference last year, and they both have really good ball control,” she said. “It’s really difficult to play against a team with good ball control, who keep putting it back up when you hit it.”
Corley said she has confidence in her team, though.
“By all means, we should beat these two teams,” she said. “We have the ability and we have the desire.”
Sophomore setter Nirelle Hampton also has faith in the Frogs’ ability to win this weekend.
“As long as we’re playing our match, we can take any team in this conference,” she said.
Corley stressed the importance of this weekend’s games.
“This is an opportunity for us to establish ourselves in the upper half of the conference,” she said. “We can’t let these two games get away from us.”
Head coach Prentice Lewis said her team needs to remain consistent in order to win games.
The Frogs won three games against the Air Force Falcons Friday night but saw their three-match winning streak come to an end against another Mountain West opponent, Colorado State, Saturday night.
The Frogs, who are now 13-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, swept the Falcons with scores of 30-19, 30-18 and 30-22. The win was their first ever Mountain West road win. The Frogs were 0-8 in conference road games last year.
The team was led by senior middle blocker Anna Vaughn, who led with 13 kills, Hampton, who had 41 assists, and Corley, who had a match-high 15 digs.
“I think we played well,” Corley said. “It’s hard to play in others’ gyms.”
Celebration of the win was short-lived, however, as the Frogs fell the next night in three games to Mountain West Conference opponent Colorado State.
The Rams, who are 7-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play, won with scores of 30-22, 30-25 and 30-13.
“They were a different caliber team than the Falcons,” Corley said.
Junior outside hitter and middle blocker LeMeita Smith and freshman outside hitter Lauren Otto each had a team-high of eight offensive kills for the Frogs, while junior right-side hitter Emily Allen led the defense with 11 kills.
“We definitely found things to work on after the loss,” Lewis said.
She attributed the loss to a lack of mental preparedness.
Vaughn said she thought her team played hard but wasn’t able to put things together once they started falling apart.
“They were a solid team and we didn’t execute like we should have,” she said.
