Cardinals struggling early in season

Posted 9/16/09 (Wed)

By Adam Thomas

The Washburn volleyball team would play host to both the Grant County Coyotes and the Beulah Miners at home this past week. Despite some promising sparks in both games, the Cardinals would win only one set in two games to end the week still winless on the season. On Tuesday against the Coyotes, Washburn came out strong in the first set with Junior Candy Ankenbauer hitting a number of bullets over the net to give her team a big lead to start the game. Senior Kayla Price would contribute two aces and junior Samantha Schell had an impressive block at the end of the set to secure Washburn the first set of the night, 25-16. Fortunes would change in the second however, with the Coyotes maintaining a comfortable lead until the Cardinals went on a come from behind effort late in the set. But a series of miscommunication mistakes cut the run short and the Coyotes took the second set by a small margin, 22-25. Grant County would storm into the third set, taking it easily thanks to the powerful front row attack of sophomore Chelsey Lince and freshman Ashley Bentz. The fourth set would see the teams battling a virtual tie for almost the entire game, but in the end, the Coyotes would surge ahead at the last moment to secure the win with a fourth set score of 21-25.