Baker Volleyball season has started and the team is in the early part of the Heart of America Conference schedule. With a lot of season left, the team currently stands at 6-9 overall, while being 1-4 in conference play. The team started off 5-3 before starting conference play and already have a big win over an NCAA opponent.
Earlier this season Baker faced off against Southwest Baptist, a NCAA division II school, and won 3-2. In a back-and-forth affair, Baker went into the fourth set down 2-1 before winning the last two sets and taking the game. In an interview with Baker Athletics coach Nils Nielsen had this to say about the match.
“We started off a little slow in this one, but credit to the team for being able to battle back,” said head coach Nils Nielsen. “We had a whole game plan coming into the match that sort of got thrown out once we got on the floor, so the team did a great job of staying steady as we figured things out.”
The team had to come back in the match and readjusted to complete the comeback. That has been the story early on this season for volleyball as there has been some readjusting due to the team being very young, with 16 of the 25 players being freshmen or sophomores. The team saw a lot of Seniors graduate last season, but it doesn’t seem to have affected much.
“Although the team is mainly made-up of freshmen, the team dynamic has been so fresh this season which is part of the reason we’ve been successful,” Senior libero Delaney Franklin said. “There are so many new and bright personalities that have brought joy and excitement to the team, which makes playing more enjoyable.”
With all of the freshmen on the team, it seems to have built up a new fresh team dynamic that has allowed the team to play better together. Franklin also stated that the team chemistry is “the best it has been” and that chemistry will only build confidence in the team as the season goes. With their strong start expectations for this season have been set.
“I look forward to some competitive [HAAC] games and I am confident in this team,” Sophomore middle blocker Meredith Brown said. “We will continue to build off these early season successes.”
Brown adds that the team is playing with a lot of confidence this season and that has allowed them to start off the season strong. The team has hit a rough spot this past week going 1-4, but the team isn’t too concerned about that this early in the season.
“Moving forward, we must continue to stay humble and work on the small skills that matter the most instead of focusing solely on winning,” Franklin said. “It’s all about taking it one step at a time and getting over mistakes quickly.”
The team may be off to a good start, but that doesn’t mean they want to be complacent. Franklin explains that they don’t want to have high expectations going into every match and to “have fun and take it one play at a time.”
The volleyball team plays another HAAC match on Sep. 29 against Park University in Parkville, Mo. at 7 p.m.
