Bulldogs take two matches

In a span of 48 hours, the women's volleyball team turned its three straight losses into a familiar winning streak.

After dropping three conference matches last week, the Bulldogs regained steam heading into the final weekend of MIAA regular season play, defeating Missouri Western State University and Northwest Missouri State University to improve to 22-4 overall and 10-3 in the MIAA.

Before Friday night's matchup, the squad had won only two games in its previous three matches. Last weekend the squad avoided defeat as the team won both matches 3-0. In the Oct. 15 match against Washburn University, the squad had only one service ace against 14 service errors. On Friday and Saturday, the team hit 18 total service aces with 15 total service errors.

Head coach Jason Skoch said the team improved since its loss to Washburn University.

"There were multiple people trying to step up to take charge and show leadership on the floor," he said. "There was a lot more energy. I did less coaching this weekend than I have done all year."

The 'Dogs traveled to St. Joseph on Friday to play the Lady Griffons. The Bulldogs switched offenses for the match, turning to a 5-1 offense, where they had only one setter - junior Christine Wagener - instead of the usual two. Senior middle hitter Micaela Walter also returned to the lineup and played well, hitting .667 for the match with 11 kills.

The retooled offense performed better than the previous matches as the 'Dogs won with scores of 30-24, 20-27 and 30-21. Junior outside hitter Sarah Shearman led the squad with 12 kills, and junior setter Christine Wagener chipped in with 38 of the team's 46 assists.

Wagener said the change to the new offense worked to the 'Dogs' strength.

"The new offense was something different," she said. "It was always one option we had."

Shearman said the team played well because it remained focused.

"In the new offense, we have to focus more on each player's position and job," she said. "We responded well to the switch, and it did help us out a lot."

The Lady Bearcats hosted the 'Dogs at Northwest Missouri State on Saturday. Once again, the team stuck with the 5-1 offense, and the winning trend continued as the squad pounded Northwest by scores of 30-18, 30-26, 30-24.

In the first two games of the match, the Truman hit .310 and .320 but staggered in the third game, hitting only .194. Shearman again led the squad in kills with 14. Wagener added 40 assists to the team's output, and junior opposite hitter Kelsey Wackerman paced the squad with 17 digs.

Skoch said he was impressed with the play of all three middle hitters.

"I rotated the middles this week because I'm really blessed with the situation to where all three middles are playing very well right now," he said. "That's great for playoff time because if one is having an off day, I can put another in, and we don't miss a beat."

For the weekend, Wagener finished with eight kills, 18 digs and 78 assists. On Monday, the MIAA rewarded her by naming her "Specialist of the Week" for the third time in her career.

Shearman said the team benefits when a player is recognized for their efforts by others in the conference.

"Our team has a lot of different strengths," she said. "However, people can still stand out."

This weekend, the team finishes out the conference season with three road contests.

The squad travels to Southwest Baptist University today to play the Lady Bearcats. They then head down to Missouri Southern State University on Friday to take on the Golden Eagles and finish the weekend against the Gorillas of Pittsburg State University on Saturday afternoon.

Skoch said it's important the team has a strong finish to the season.

"It's huge because I want to make sure that we are firing on all cylinders," he said. "Last weekend was good because we got our confidence back.

This weekend is big because we need to be totally clicking on the defensive side and stay aggressive."

Wagener said the team still needs to fine-tune a couple of things as the season comes to an end.

"We still have stuff to worry about," she said. "The three losses gave us a wake-up call. We just have to want to win."