Junior defensive specialist Jenny Ewert feels strongly about the upcoming tournament this weekend. “This tournament is a huge competition. It is basically Iowa teams versus Minnesota teams, which turns out to be a preview of what our regionals will be like,” Ewert said.
Sophomore middle hitter Angela Ahrendt agreed with Ewert and also felt it was a chance for the team to shine outside of the MIAC. “The Border Battle gives our team a chance to prove ourselves outside of the Conference. Doing well in this tournament will be helpful in the long run when we’re trying to get to Nationals,” Ahrendt said.
This year the Border Battle Tournament will be held in Dubuque, IA, and the Gustavus Volleyball team will be competing against the top four nationally ranked Iowa teams, including Central College, Loras College, Wartburg College and Simpson College.
Junior outside hitter Nicki Ainsworth felt the team is fully prepared for the upcoming matches. “We are as prepared as we’re going to be for the tournament this weekend. Although we have had some set-backs like losing our setter [Junior Sam Broderius] to a sprained ankle, we have come together as a team to get through this challenge,” Ainsworth said.
Head Coach Kari Eckheart, entering her 13th season with Gustavus, feels the MIAC is one of the strongest conferences in the nation and this tournament is the perfect place to prove that. “This tournament is not only a chance to prove ourselves against other nationally ranked teams, but also to prove to the Iowa conference that the MIAC really is the toughest conference in the nation,” Eckheart said.
All of the girls felt very comfortable with this weekend’s line up of games and saw no problems they could face along the way. However, Senior Captain Meghan Gehring felt the issue of traveling five hours could present a problem. “After five hours in a bus you feel a little shaky and not necessarily ready to jump into a game right away, but our team tends to cope with that fairly well,” Gehring said.
Ainsworth agreed with Gehring and also presented her own feelings of concern for the weekend. “The only other issue, aside from the travel, would be adjusting to a new gym; we are so accustomed to our nice gymnasium at Gustavus. We will just have to stay calm and focused through our matches and not get distracted by the little things,” Ainsworth said.
Winning five out of their last eight games, the team has been doing so well lately that no one would notice they have gone through some major changes. The Gusties have had some major injuries on the team, including Junior setter Sam Broderius and First-year outside hitter Lisa Beacher. They have also lost a lot of veteran players from last year, according to Coach Eckheart, which means they are a relatively new team this year.
Despite the injuries and loss of leadership on the team, Ahrendt still feels prepared for the upcoming matches. “We’ll do fine. Four games is a lot, and we definitely need to take things one game at a time. You cannot get a pass to Nationals unless you win the little games first,” Ahrendt said.
“The team has definitely had its highs and lows, but this is not something we can dwell on. We have to play with what we have got and do our best every game,” Ainsworth said.
Coach Eckheart agreed with the girls and feels equally prepared for the games this weekend. “I amvery excited for the games this weekend. This tournament is very competitive. We have gotten to know some of these teams very well over the years and picked up on their style of play making the games that much more fun to watch,” Eckeart said. “Some of the team’s goals for the tournament are to improve every game, and I think that is a very achievable goal in the sense that we have naturally gotten better throughout our non-Conference games.”
Although the women have got a long road ahead of them before their season is over, they have not forgotten about their long-term goals. “We have our eyes set on being in the final four of the MIAC, the higher, the better. We definitely want to get to Nationals. However, for now all we can focus on is this weekend’s games,” Ewert said.
Coach Eckheart agreed with Ewert’s statement. “The final four and Nationals would be nice and are ideal goals for any team to have. However, I am focused on our game against St. Olaf last Wednesday, and after that I will look at the stats of the teams we are playing this weekend, and even then my focus will be one game at a time,” Eckheart said.
The team’s first opponent in the tournament is Central College at 2:00 p.m.
“The team has definitely had its highs and lows, but this is not something we can dwell on. We have to play with what we have got and do our best every game,” Ainsworth said.
Coach Eckheart agreed with the girls and feels equally prepared for the games this weekend. “I amvery excited for the games this weekend. This tournament is very competitive. We have gotten to know some of these teams very well over the years and picked up on their style of play making the games that much more fun to watch,” Eckeart said. “Some of the team’s goals for the tournament are to improve every game, and I think that is a very achievable goal in the sense that we have naturally gotten better throughout our non-Conference games.”
Although the women have got a long road ahead of them before their season is over, they have not forgotten about their long-term goals. “We have our eyes set on being in the final four of the MIAC, the higher, the better. We definitely want to get to Nationals. However, for now all we can focus on is this weekend’s games,” Ewert said.
Coach Eckheart agreed with Ewert’s statement. “The final four and Nationals would be nice and are ideal goals for any team to have. However, I am focused on our game against St. Olaf last Wednesday, and after that I will look at the stats of the teams we are playing this weekend, and even then my focus will be one game at a time,” Eckheart said.
The team’s first opponent in the tournament is Central College at 2:00 p.m.