Despite losing to the College of William and Mary, the AU volleyball team is more concerned with their next match against Army at West Point on Friday.
Despite already playing 19 total games, the whole season may come down to Friday’s match.
The Black Knights are AU’s biggest rival and toughest competition in the Patriot League. A loss to them could all but destroy any hopes of winning this year’s Patriot League title.
It has been more than nine years since the Eagles have lost more than one conference match and they already have lost two this year. It is not impossible for AU to make a run at the top spot, but if it is to happen it needs to begin Friday. It must start Friday for the simple reason that it may be AU’s only opportunity to hand Army one of two loses. Two loses may be all it takes for AU to take the top spot over Army if the Eagles win out through the rest of conference play.
Army has been a force to be reckoned with all year. Through 20 games, the Black Knights are 17-3 overall with a perfect 5-0 in the conference. In those five victories, they have not lost more than one set and have never been in jeopardy of being upset.
AU, on the other hand, has not been as efficient as they can be. While they have not lost a set in each of their Patriot League wins, the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in league each beat AU by two sets. The hard part about those two L’s on their record is that they should have easily won those games.
The Eagles came into the 2009-10 season as the favorite to run away with the Patriot League. They had been in the NCAA tournament for more than five years in a row and lost to a strong University of North Carolina team in the tournament last year. Those predictions all changed, however, when the team started 0-5 losing games to cross-town rivals George Washington, Georgetown and George Mason.
Head Coach Barry Goldberg was expected to get his 500th win of his AU career the first weekend, but it took until the eighth game to get that achievement. Both Goldberg and the team insist that the pressure of getting the win didn’t affect their play. Instead, they equated it to injuries and youth on the team.
While every team goes through growing pains, AU has not been through one recently. In over 10 years of consecutively winning seasons, a team must reload every once in a while, or about every two years. It may be that the talent is just not there.
It is clear that the team goes out and gives its all every game, so it is not a question of heart. There is a very real possibility that the quality of player just isn’t there anymore. With only four freshmen on the whole team, the experience should be there.
All of this can go away for the perennial winning team. They just have to win against Army on Friday. It will be a statement game no matter what the outcome is. A win, and the Eagles have the chance to turn the season around; a loss means the season is all but lost. For the sake of the rest of the season, the team better hope they win.
The chance of a win is higher seeing as this is a rivalry game. Senior Claire Recht has stressed all year that the team wants to beat Army and that they are the two games they care about most. A big rivalry could be just what the team needs in order to finish the season strong.
Army may only lose two games this year, that is assuming both loses are to AU. The Eagles can get a big start on working towards the first seed in the Patriot League with a win Friday. It is the biggest game of the season, bigger than the UNC rematch. A win gives this team some hope to cling to, since first place will be within reach, but a loss may all but end the season for this struggling powerhouse.
You can reach this columnist at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
