The Plattsburgh State women’s volleyball team is ready to shock the conference, and if its recent play is an indicator, its chances are pretty high.
Though the Cardinals have not necessarily come out in the winning column, they have still been maintaining a very high level of play and keeping matches that would have gotten out of hand in previous seasons much closer.
Senior middle hitter Emily Miller believes that right now, the team is playing the best volleyball it has all season and is going to be able to turn this high level of play into wins in conference play.
“After this past weekend, even though we only came out with one win, we played extremely well as a team, the best we’ve played all season,” Miller said. “I am very confident in our team. It was our best weekend yet.”
Head coach Jake Bluhm is extremely confident with how his team has been performing lately, regardless of the fact that they ended up in the loss column more times than not.
“It is a crazy thing. This past weekend we played extremely well,” Bluhm said. “It is unfortunate that our record does not reflect on how we actually played. Being within one point of winning the match in the third set against Poly hurt. We played hard, and that unfortunately doesn’t always mean a win.”
The rest of the season has been set up for what is now finally beginning, in conference SUNYAC play.
While the matches PSUC has played have given the team valuable experience and allowed them to top their win total from last season, they have no bearing on whether the Cards earn entry into the SUNYAC tournament.
The Cards are currently 1-2 in SUNYAC play, and have six straight in conference matchups determining if they make the tournament.
From the beginning of the year this has been the team’s goal has been clear; make the tournament and subsequently shock some teams and earn some wins.
Bluhm believes that his team’s recent increased level of play is going to transition into the more important matches coming up.
“I think we have a good amount of confidence for sure,” Bluhm said. “We have a couple of tough matches but I know we’ll put up a good fight … we have the opportunity to do some special things.”
Freshman Sam Colombo agrees with her coach, and though she has not seen SUNYAC play in the past, has taken the advice from her older teammates and put her full focus on the importance of the matches ahead.
“The older girls are getting it through to us how important these matches are, and we are confident,” Colombo said. “I think our team is definitely an underdog, but we have gotten so much better already this season I know we can go far in the tournament.”
Email Bailey Carlin at sports@cardinalpointsonline.com
