| Nikki Griffiths goes high for a kill in the College of Eastern Utah’s win over CNCC on Saturday afternoon at the Bunnell Dmitrich Athletic Center. |
Returning to the friendly confines after a long and mostly unsuccessful road swing, the CEU volleyball team posted a win over Colorado Northwestern Community College Saturday afternoon. A small, but vocal crowd cheered the Eagles to a 20-26, 30-13, 30-24 sweep over the Spartans.
Tentative play from the Eagles let the Spartans control the tempo in game one. The outcome remained in flux over the entire match as both teams kept neck and neck until late in the match.
As the team prepared for game two a frustrated Coach Martindale commented that it felt like they were playing like they forgot how to win. CEU came out slow again in game two and let CNCC dictate the tempo.
Martindale called a time out and read his team the riot act. It seemed to shake them out of their doldrums and they went on a scoring run to put the game away.
The momentum didn’t carry over into game three and it turned into another seesaw affair. But in the end the Eagles stepped up their play enough to put the Spartans away in three.
Freshman Amber Kohler led the offensive attack for CEU with 11 kills. Sophomore Kindra Rommey dished out 20 set assists and added two service aces to help seal the victory.
After the game Coach Martindale gave his team a stern lecture about playing to the level of competition. With Snow and Salt Lake looming on the horizon next weekend, the team cannot afford to get lax.
CEU will entertain Snow at the B-DAC on Thursday with first serve at 7 p.m. They will take on SLCC on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the B-DAC. The team will then head to Salt Lake to play in the Region 18 conference tournament on Friday Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3.