WOODWARD — If the design of Woodward-Granger head coach Meg Jackson was for her volleyballers to assert themselves early and often it is clear her players both heard, and understood, the plan.
W-G (4-4, 1-0) scored the first 12 points in game one and seven of the first eight in game two to help set in motion a 3-0 sweep over West Central Valley in the West Central Conference opener for both teams Tuesday.
The Hawks surged to an 18-1 in winning the first game, 25-12, and trailed only after the first point of the second game in claiming another 25-12 victory. A 25-20 win in the third game ended the match.
“How we looked in game one and two is how we were playing Saturday (W-G was 4-2 at the B-F tourney) when we were playing well,” Jackson said. “We served very well, and we were just going up there hitting and not worrying about making mistakes.
“Volleyball is a game where there are going to be a lot of errors, and many people do not understand that,” she continued. “We have a lot of young players and sometimes those girls are too worried about making a mistake and you saw that in game three. You just have to go out there and not be so cautious, not worry about an error here or there.”
W-G got off to a blistering start thanks in large part to the serving of junior Bree Lesch, who had four aces while leading the Hawks to a 12-0 start.
The Wildcats trailed, 18-1, but scored six consecutive points to prove they would simply not roll over. An Olivia McCune kill and ace serve pushed the score to 20-7, with the teams trading points until a Julie Pitman ace ended the game at 25-12.
WCV scored the first point of the second game, but seven straight service points from Lesch put the hosts in control. The Wildcats stayed within range briefly by closing to within 12-6, but the host slowly pulled away for their second 25-12 win.
W-G was unable to open a comfortable gap in the third contest, as the guests never trailed by more than five at any point in the game. WCV was within 22-20, but a missed serve, a Pitman ace and a Wildcat mishit ended the match.
“We still need to do a better job of terminating plays at the net,” Jackson said, echoing her comments from Saturday. “Again, it is the cautious thing. When we play loose and don’t think so much we are a different team.”
W-G will return to action Thursday when they visit the ADM Invitational, with play beginning at 4 p.m.
