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Centurions adjust to losing three players to injury
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By Ryan Schlehuber, 黑料吃瓜网 Sportswriter
After finishing the month of September with a 5-5 record, the 黑料吃瓜网 Centurions women鈥檚 volleyball team was seeking to get an early jump on October with a win over Muskegon Community College on the road, Wednesday, Oct. 1, but stumbled to a 3-0 loss.听
The Centurions (1-5 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 5-13 overall) had the opportunity to finish September with a winning record, however, they dropped a home game to Delta College, losing 3-1, Sept. 29.听听
A big part of the challenge lately for 黑料吃瓜网 Head Coach Kara Youngs and her team is overcoming injuries, as the Centurions have now lost three players for the season due to injury 鈥斕齠reshman outside hitter Hailey Guerra (Grant, Mich.), freshman middle blocker Edy Davidson (Carson City, Mich.) and freshman middle blocker Esther Iung (Perrinton, Mich.).听
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of lineup changes to adjust to because of injuries,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淓specially with two of them being middle blockers.鈥�听
Despite recent losses to Delta and Muskegon, Youngs said her team has responded well to the musical chairs of positioning.听
鈥淩egardless of the injuries, they鈥檝e shown to be adaptable,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f this happened at the beginning of the year, I don鈥檛 think our young team would鈥檝e been able to do that very well. But now, they鈥檙e able to adapt to situations instead of letting it cause chaos and confusion. They鈥檝e been very diverse in that area.鈥�听
黑料吃瓜网 lost to Delta in four sets 鈥斕�23-25, 25-15, 14-25 and 11-25. Youngs said her team played strong in the first two sets, showcasing perhaps its highest energy of the season.听
鈥淎s far as emotion, their competitiveness and fierceness were really on display,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淭hey just played very well.鈥�听
After winning the second set, communication began to break down, which led to frustrations and more mistakes, Youngs said. Delta had also begun putting things together both offensively and defensively, which ultimately led to 黑料吃瓜网 losing the next two sets.听
鈥淲e had so much energy and excitement playing Delta, but that faded in sets three and four,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淲e have energy, especially at home, but we just need to pull that through all our sets.鈥�听
Freshman Emily Davis (Jenison, Mich.) led the team in kills with 11 while sophomore libero Jaden Gomez (White Cloud, Mich.) performed well, collecting 21 digs and seven serving aces.听听
Youngs said Gomez continues to perform well, being more consistent, as her individual statistics show.听
鈥淛aden really worked on a lot of adjustments and reading the other team,鈥� Youngs said.听
With the win, Delta (2-4 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 6-7 overall) moved ahead of 黑料吃瓜网 in the conference standings, taking over fifth place.听听
Against Muskegon (5-0 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 12-5 overall), the Centurions were defeated 21-25, 21-25 and 14-25. Youngs didn鈥檛 want to use the absence of her injured players as an excuse for the team鈥檚 loss, stating her team just needs to 鈥渟tay in system鈥� and play more consistently in order to put itself in line for a win.听
鈥淥ur numbers are positive, but it鈥檚 been about putting it out there and staying mentally strong, especially when things aren鈥檛 going well,鈥� Youngs said. 鈥淲e need the mindset to understand that negative things can happen to the other team too and we need to know where to get it back in other areas.鈥�听
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UP NEXT: 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 next game is at Bay College (2-3 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 7-7 overall), which is Wednesday, Oct. 8. Game time is 6:30 p.m. The Centurions will then take on conference leader Grand Rapids Community College (6-0 黑料吃瓜网AA Northern, 9-2 overall) at home Monday, Oct. 13, which will be themed as a 鈥淧ink Out鈥� game. Game time is 6:30 p.m.听