Jenna Coates' tough defense sparks victory for volleyball
The volleyball team saw themselves down early in this weekend’s Oakland Invitational.
With losses to Oakland and Oregon State, the Chippewas seemed defeated.
This defeated feeling festered with the team, as it dropped the first two sets of the final match against Villanova. After the team’s second set loss, however, a spark was lit under the Chippewas bench, and a comeback victory was in the works.
A key asset to CMU’s come-from-behind win was senior defensive specialist Jenna Coates. Having played in all three matches of the invitational, Coates was in the trenches with dig after dig.
“It was a roller coaster,” Coates said. “Volleyball is a game of momentum, and that whole game was definitely a momentum-shifter. I think coach (Olson) did a good job of mixing it up and getting different people out there to get a different spark going.”
Coates contributed in more ways than one during Saturday afternoon’s victory. The senior from Clarkston had 25 digs in the win. Defensively speaking, Coates liked the team's effort.
“I thought the whole tournament was pretty tough,” Coates said. “We did a good job scouting the other teams though, and I thought the coaching staff put me in the spots they wanted. I felt that my blockers did a good job opening up for me.”
Coates feels she, as well as her teammates, are headed in the right direction as the season gets underway. Some new personnel with the usual influx of freshman and departure of last year’s seniors can always be difficult at the beginning of a season.
As far as the Oakland Invitational is concerned, Coates and the rest of the Chippewas saw many ups and downs. The key is knowing how to fix the downs in preparation for the next competition.
“We got a lot of little things to work on, but I thought we finished very strong over the weekend,” Coates said. “It was the first time out there with our new personnel.”
Coates will be back in action Friday as her team travels to Pittsburgh to play in the Robert Morris/Duquesne Tournament. CMU will start match play at 7 p.m. against the Duquesne University Dukes.
