The Vandal volleyball team went 1-1 on Saturday at the second of four spring tournaments Idaho is participating in, losing to Washington State but beating Gonzaga.
Last week, the Vandals went to Cheney for matches at Eastern Washington and Saturday the Vandals hosted WSU and Gonzaga at Memorial Gym.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said she saw a big improvement in her team in a week’s time.“From last week to this week we did a better job,” Buchanan said. “We still have a ways to go. It’s the little plays that sometimes we’re out of position, and that comes with just playing together and trusting. We’re still learning.”
Washington State beat Idaho 25-23, 23-25, 25-17 in the first match of the morning. Idaho then beat Gonzaga 25-22, 25-21, 22-25 in the Vandals’ second match.
Idaho libero Jenna Ellis said the team is looking better, but still has a long ways to go.
“I think we still have a lot to work on,” Ellis said. “We’re coming together as a team and I think it’s just the little stuff that ends up being big stuff that we need to work on.”
The Vandals are playing with a young team this year after losing six seniors from last year’s team. Buchanan said she’s starting to see better communication on the court, but said it’ll take time before it’s running at a high level.
“It’s all trust,” Buchanan said. “You have a new setter with the middles and sometimes you’ll see our kids start to go and they slow down. It’s just not 100 percent, but we’ll get there. That’s what spring is for, to make adjustments and make progress.”
With the loss of the seniors, doors have opened for players to step up into new roles, including leadership.
Buchanan said this spring is about growing as a team and working out kinks to carry into the season in the ball.
“Right now, it’s not about playing a perfect game because that rarely happens in volleyball,” she said. “We’re going to make some errors and it’s about how do you bounce back from them and how do you communicate with the person next to you.”
The Vandals will hope to keep improving when they travel to Gonzaga next Saturday to play five matches. Idaho will then conclude the spring season on April 27 at a tournament in Portland.
Ellis said the team just needs to keep working on the little things, especially passing and ball control.
“We’re working a lot on our ball control and for me as a libero, that’s the big thing for me, just working on ball control and out movements,” Ellis said.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]