She is totally digging this

Pomona-Pitzer Hens in Spandex Slip Past CMS
By LAUREN SAUTER
Sports Associate

Volleyball is one of those sports I didn’t play in high school (I guess all sports are sports I didn’t play in high school). However, I did play on my seventh grade volleyball team, as a C-string middle hitter. I quit halfway through the season, so you can imagine my respect and admiration for someone who makes it all the way to college. There are lot of women on the Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team who make volleyball look way easier than it is. And it’s not easy, trust me.

The volleyball team is a fairly young group that promises to be a strong conference contender. The athletes include several promising freshmen, such as starting setter Laurea Laakso and middle hitter Rachele Trager, but also some upperclassmen with solid skills and experience. Renee Faulkner ’04 has showcased some incredible offensive play this season and was just named as SCIAC Player of the Week. Elena Shih ’04 leads the defense, which is P-P’s strong point. Coach Cowan has been pleased thus far with the teams ability to compete, and with such dependable defensive skills , she is hoping to work more this season on offense.

The most recent women’s volleyball game was against CMS on Tuesday. It took an exhausting 5 sets to seal the victory, but the Sagehens stayed tough and defeated the Athenas. The match had a lot of ups and downs, with alternating wins and losses throughout the sets. P-P had the serve opening up the first set. They took it 30-22 when CMS was called on the net.

Volleyball games move at a fast pace, due to the relatively new “rally” scoring adopted in 2000. Rally scoring means that every time the ball hits the ground or a mistake is made, a point is awarded to the other team.

Set 2 had the Athenas putting points up on the board as the playing got underway, but the Sagehens quickly caught up thanks to some nice defensive digs by outside hitter Shih. Athenas won with a final score of 20-30, evening up the tally to 1:1. I must remark that the CMS coach, though perhaps good at her job, was wearing a truly heinous ensemble that she most certainly got off the junior’s sale rack at Mervyn’s. This may seem irrelevant, but I believe it was distracting to our players.

Sets 3 and 4 went to P-P (30-28) and CMS (20-30), respectively, and were characterized by several long rallies that raised tension among both players and fans. During a particularly well-orchestrated series of digs, sets, and spikes, it struck me that volleyball is quite a graceful sport. The players are tall and lanky, and despite the occasional collision, they move fluidly around the court. When the setter propels the ball into the air, there is always someone there to neatly spike it across the net. I would say volleyball was like ballet, but Jack Handy already used that analogy for boxing: He said, “To me, boxing is like ballet, except there is no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.” Volleyball, on the other hand, has a careful mix of choreography and improvisation that makes it both polished and spontaneous.

P-P fought hard in the fifth and final set, finishing with a score of 15-8 for the win.

Cowan and her team are working toward a top three finish in SCIAC this season, and are obviously off to a good start, beating CMS on Tuesday and Redlands last week on their home court. The next women’s volleyball game is Friday night against Cal Tech. Cowan said, “I am very excited about this group of volleyball hens! We are already much improved over last year, and expect to continue this growth throughout the season. If we continue to play with great ball control and the desire to win, there is no limit to what we can achieve! GO HENS!”