FSU Volleyball Moves to 5-3 on Season

The Frostburg State women’s volleyball team traveled to Chowan University to take on the Hawks at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20th. In the first set, the Bobcats would come out hot and held a 6 to 2 lead. This was short-lived however, as the Hawks made a comeback of their own putting together a 7 to 1 run to tie the game at 20 to 20.

With smart play and two errors by their opponent, the Bobcats would take the first set of the game with the score 25 to 22. The next three sets would go entirely different as the Hawks would win them all.

In the second set, it seemed as though Frostburg would start come out as they did in the first set, seeing as they started the set 3 to 1, but the Hawks bounced back quickly. Chowan put together a 7 to 0 run which would help them start to put distance between them and the Bobcats. The Hawks would take the second set 25 to 21.

In the third set, the Hawks would start on a 5 to 0 run, but the Bobcats started to creep back making the score 5 to 3. The Hawks would add to their lead and continued to play smart and eventually got out to an 18 to 12 lead, then continued and won the set 25 to 22.

In the fourth set, Chowan put pressure on the Bobcats again by leading 4 to 0 at the beginning of the set. The Bobcats would come back to take the lead at 6 to 5 trying to force a 5th set, but the Hawks took over the rest of the set winning 25 to 21 and the match.

“We lost to a good team but I know me and my teammates will be ready and prepared to bounce back next game,” outside hitter Haley Altemus said of the loss.

The volleyball team would stay on the road to take on Claflin University on Saturday, Sept. 21st at 11:00 a.m. in a tri-match. The Bobcats entered the first game with a 4-2 record.

In the first set of the game, the Bobcats and the Panthers would go back and forth until the Panthers would go on a run to take the first set 25 to 21.

In the second set, Frostburg came out determined to win the set by going on an 11 to 3 run. That run would distance themselves from the Panthers and the Bobcats would cruise to win the set 25 to 21. The next two sets would be the same for the Bobcats, where they would dominate the Panthers for the rest of the match.

In the third set, the Bobcats came out with a 6 to 0 run and never trailed again as they would take the set winning 25 to 15. In the fourth set, the Bobcats came out with a 5 to 0 run lead. Claflin battled back to make the game close but Frostburg would be too much for them and took the set winning 25 to 22 and also winning the first game of the tri-match.

Altemus had a team-leading 22 kills, first-year Edwyna Lainez had a team-leading 4 aces and 40 assists, and senior defensive specialist Cori Smothers had a team-leading 20 digs.

In the second game of the tri-match, the Bobcats would take on the Paine College Lions. This game would be very competitive as it would make it to a 5th set.

Frostburg would take the first set 25 to 22 with a 6 to 0 run to start the game, and they would keep their foot on the gas pedal.

In the second game, Paine would take the set 25 to 18 thanks to two 6 to 0 runs that gave them plenty of distance from Frostburg. The third set, which was neck and neck in the middle of the set, would end with the Bobcats pulling away towards the end to win the set 25 to 22.

In the fourth set, Frostburg looked to finish the match off, but Paine came back with 3 to 0 run and then five straight points to give them the win for the set 25 to 22.

The Bobcats and Lions went back and forth in the fifth set, scoring point after point. But, Paine put together a 6 to 1 run to take the match 15 to 10.

Altemus had 20 kills and 4 blocks, senior outside hitter Bailey Godlove had 11 kills and 1 block, and first-year outside hitter Jackie Sterenberg had 8 kills, 2 Aces and 1 Block.

“I think we did good in both matches, we competed at a high level, I thought we could have taken the 5th set against Paine college, but you win some and lose some. We will be back and ready to go next week,” Sterenberg mentioned.

The Bobcats will be back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 24th at Bowie State. The game starts at 6:00 p.m.