After week one of the volleyball season, MSU head coach Chuck Erbe feels his team is on course with where he expected it to be - but not without an early test.
A 3-0 start is just what Erbe was hoping his team would be able to accomplish heading into the Maryland Invitational. He thought his team was the best one of the four, they just had to prove it.
And after MSU took care of business against the three teams, Erbe was satisfied. But the team found the tournament a little more challenging than previously expected.
"We need to be happy that we won," junior outside hitter Kim Schram said. "But still focus on the things we need to improve on, 'cause there are a lot of them."
Erbe knew better than to overlook teams like Tennessee and Maryland who may not have their best team this season but would be competitive.
"I did not feel that this was going to be an easy tournament by any stretch of the imagination," Erbe said.
The response from the team in the Tennessee match is one Erbe hopes to continue to see throughout the rest of the season. After losing the first two games 28-30 and 26-30, MSU roared back with three thrilling wins, 31-29, 30-28 and 17-15.
"I think they responded excellently in that game," Erbe said. "The odds against being down 0-2 and winning are pretty minuscule to be in your favor."
When Erbe talked to his team at intermission, which is the time in-between the second and third games, he told them Tennessee was going to continue to play better and they shouldn't expect any less. He felt MSU had to raise its level of play, as they did, if they wanted to win.
"The defensive tenacity of our team was just incredible," Erbe said. "They helped everyone raise their level and consistency."
But the biggest accomplishment from this weekend is simply confidence.
"What this past weekend did was a lot, " Erbe said. "Knowing we can manage some difficult situations and that we can be competitively challenged, but can still respond properly and in a manner we can feel good about is important."
It's been awhile...
Coming back from a 0-2 deficit isn't new to the volleyball team, it just isn't a normal occurrence. The five-game match against Tennessee was the first match MSU had won in such fashion since beating Hawaii 6-15, 8-15, 15-10, 15-7 and 15-12, in the 1995 NCAA Regional Final.
Killers
Junior outside hitter Kim Schram and senior middle Jenny Rood had 54 and 50 kills respectively over the past weekend. Schram played in 10 games, averaging 5.40 kills per game, and Rood played in all 11 games with an average of 4.55 kills.
No Love
The team will have to wait until next week to make a move in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll. The poll was released on Monday and the Spartans remained at the No. 25 ranking despite going 3-0 to start the season.
