MILWAUKEE -- The Alverno College women's volleyball team dropped its home opener to non-conference Ripon College, 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-18), on Friday, Sept. 5, in Milwaukee, Wis.
The Inferno (1-4 overall) stuck with the Red Hawks during the second and third sets after having a rough time in the first set, but the home squad couldn't quite close the door in the end.
"We battled, but we have to learn to put our foot down to finish the set," said Alverno head coach Crystal McClure. "We tend to let up when we get a cushion, and I think we found out that our cushion is only good for so long. We would have one error lead to another and we just weren't playing smart for a few stretches."
Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Rebecca Schmid (Tigerton, Wis.) led the Inferno at the net with eight kills to go along with seven digs while freshman outside hitter Ashley Graham (Cudahy, Wis.) guided the backcourt with 11 digs. Junior setter Kim Reuter (Franklin, Wis.) was also a key player, tallying 11 assists and seven digs.
"Bec played very well," McClure said. "She was very vocal on the court in terms of letting people know where she was and came out strong. Kim was also smart at setter and made good choices. Ashley played great defense and started mixing it up in the front row towards the end. Being a smaller player, she can really cream the ball and tip it appropriately as needed."
Despite the end result, McClure saw signs that her squad is improving throughout its early season matches as they begin to work out the kinks.
"We identified our problem areas tonight," McClure said. "It was our first home game, which was new to everyone except for Bec and Kim, so it was a big transition for everyone. Everyone was fired up and wanted to come out and cream the ball, but we learned that we have to mix it up and we started doing that towards the end of the match."
Alverno will continue non-conference match play with another home contest on Tuesday, Sept. 9, against Mt. Mary College.
"Tonight I wanted to come out strong, and we did," McClure said. "We let up at certain points, but we finished strong. That's exactly what we needed because we needed to end the match on a positive note and have something to give us a lift going forward. We know what we need to fix and we know the type of energy we need to bring to our next match."
Match time with Mt. Mary is set for 7 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis.
