Jim Swing
Sports Editor
For the past two years, Delaware has haunted the VCU volleyball team.
In their last four meetings, the Blue Hens have been the victor, including a win that knocked the Rams out of the CAA semifinals last year.
And when the two teams met Saturday night, the storyline was no different.
Delaware came out hot and held on for a 3-1 (25-19, 25-15, 21-25, 25-19) win over VCU in front of a crowd of 209 at the Siegel Center.
“I think Delaware is a good team, and they’re very disciplined,” VCU head coach James Finley said. “And their No. 13, we couldn’t stop her; she had a great night.”
The No. 13 Finley was referring to is Chelsea Lawrence. The junior middle hitter torched the Rams for 18 kills, two digs and posted a .586 hitting percentage.
In the first two sets, setter Cecilia Aragao couldn’t seem to find accuracy. Finley decided to make a change in the third set by installing sophomore Ciara Brown, who came in and recorded 21 assists.
The change proved plentiful as VCU came out looking like a whole new team and took the third set 25-21.
“We had a lot of trouble with our setter, just location and ball control,” Finley said. “I thought Ciara did a nice job and came in and got the win in set two. It’s always interesting; you put a new setter in, and we pass really well all of the sudden. That was great and it helped her get settled in.”
But by that time, it was too late.
Delaware entered the fourth set like a team possessed and cruised to a 25-19 win to close the match.
HOT STREAK
Prior to Saturday night’s match, VCU had won four straight matches.
Wins over UNC Wilmington, William & Mary, Towson and Liberty positioned the Rams in the middle of the pack at sixth in the CAA.
“The girls just really got focused and we talked about where we were at and what we had to do to be successful and get into the tournament,” Finley said. “And I thought the girls did a really good job of staying focused and we worked hard in practice and there really was just an urgency and we’ve got to be able to execute to get things going.”
The streak came after the Rams had dropped eight of their previous nine outings.
FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY
At one point in Saturday night’s match, libero Amanda Friday could be seen all over the floor.
She had the most hustle of any player on the hardwood, and that’s just the way it’s been as of late.
The senior transfer from Tennessee has racked up 43 digs over the last three games, a team-high.
“She’s really brought a lot of stability to our defense,” Finley said. “Great leadership, she just really plays hard all of the time.”
This comes just a year after Friday dug 122 balls and averaged 1.98 digs per set in 28 matches for the Volunteers.
HOME COOKING
For the better part of October so far, VCU has spent a lot of time on the road.
But now, the Rams have returned home for a four-game homestand at perhaps the most crucial part of the season.
Heading into the final nine games of the season, VCU will make its tournament push with games coming up against James Madison and George Mason.
And just as always, a standard has been set.
“As coaches we said if we go 3-1 in this home stretch that we’ll be in good shape going on the road again,” he said. “So that means next weekend we have to get two wins, so we’ll work hard this week and see what we can do against JMU and George Mason next weekend.”