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Liggett, Tigers break long streak
9/9/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
The Fort Hays State University volleyball team dropped its first match at the Eastern New Mexico University tournament last weekend, falling 3-0 to Colorado State-Pueblo and hitting -.026. The defeat extended the Tigers' losing skid to 19 matches and dropped Fort Hays to 0-5 this season. After the loss, first-year Fort Hays coach Kurt Kohler asked the team to sit in the stands and watch the next match.
A few minutes later, though, the players, led by junior setter Whitney Liggett, got up and left. They called a players-only meeting.
"In club, we used to do goals," Liggett said. "Every practice and every game. It seemed to help. We were a pretty good club team. I just thought maybe that would work. I just had everybody write out their goals and everything. We went up to the top (of the stands) and everyone set them."
The meeting transformed the Tigers. Fort Hays won three straight matches, the team's first victories since a 3-0 win against Missouri Southern on Oct. 10, 2008. Fort Hays defeated New Mexico Highlands University 3-1 for the first win of the Kohler era. They finished with 3-0 wins against Oklahoma-Panhandle State University and Eastern New Mexico.
"Our confidence is a lot better," Liggett said.
"We are starting to walk with our heads high instead of like, 'Oh, we are just going to go in there and lose or oh, we are Fort Hays, we are not doing great.' It's a lot better. It's a lot higher."
Liggett and seniors Lilian "Super" Rezende and Lydia Karnopp earned all-tournament honors. Rezende, the Tigers' lone returning all-conference player, averaged 4.23 kills per set and collected nine service aces, both team-bests. Karnopp averaged 3.46 kills and collected a .714 hitting percentage versus Panhandle State, the highest hitting percentage by a Fort Hays player this season. Liggett collected 9.23 assists per set, including a career-high 54 versus Highlands.
"They got their energy back. That's always nice when you have players that will step up and do those kinds of things," Kohler said, alluding to the meeting. "It's not always the coach that has to try to find the formula. The kids are ultimately the ones on the court that are playing."
In her first tournament as the team's full-time libero, sophomore Tracie Hileman again played well. Hileman, more vocal than former libero Ellen Dreyer, finished with 3.31 digs per set and helped start a stronger Fort Hays offense. Fort Hays raised its season hitting average from .078 to .132 with the 3-1 showing at the tournament.
"I think she will be one of the better liberos that Fort Hays State has had by the time she graduates," Kohler said.
"The passes were good, which also helps a lot. When the passes are on, the sets are on, and then we can run an offense," Liggett said.
In the season's first five matches, Fort Hays had continued to struggle with errors and what Kohler labels "volleyball IQ." The Tigers averaged 8.15 errors per set in their first tournament and the -.026 hitting percentage versus Pueblo marked the lowest single match average for Fort Hays all season. Kohler keeps a mental errors statistic on the bench, a number that was high in the loss to Pueblo.
"It was incredible how many mental errors we had in that first match," Kohler said.
"No one was connecting and it was just not a very good game," Liggett said. After the loss, Fort Hays saw Pueblo celebrating, a scene the Tigers hadn't experienced in nearly 11 months.
"(Pueblo) was screaming and we were all really upset and coach says, 'that is exactly what it feels like to win' and right then, I think we were all like, 'yeah, we want that,' " Liggett said.
Liggett, the team's most experienced player in terms of career sets played, was vocal in the team meeting. She addressed several changes and asked the team to set goals.
"We needed to change something and I felt everyone is trying to focus on the team and not focus on their individual play," she said. "I think once everyone focused on their individual play, we will come together as a team.
"We needed something. When we got done talking, I was like, we need to do something and just in my mind, 'Goals. We need to write down our goals.' It seemed to help and everyone seemed to like it," she added.
Liggett personally set goals of two aces per match, getting her feet set when the hitter is attacking, six assists per set and playing consistent volleyball. In the next match against Highlands, Liggett was the lone setter in the 5-1 offense for the second time in her career. She collected two aces and a career-best 54 assists and Fort Hays won.
"My hands just felt really good and the hitters were calling and I could hear them," Liggett said. "Usually, it is kind of hard to hear them."
Versus Panhandle, Karnopp, the team's lone four-year player, collected her .714 average. Last season, no Fort Hays player hit above .526 for any match. Karnopp, a two-year starter, carries a .232 hitting percentage this season, easily the team's best.
"From what I have seen so far this year, she should be an all-conference player by the end," Kohler said. "There is no reason why she shouldn't. She is one of the best right sides I have seen on any team."
The Tigers (3-5) finished the tournament with two more victories -- and continued to see improvement.
"We are starting to see the court a little better," Kohler said. "That is the one thing I really noticed against Eastern New Mexico.
"We could see where their defensive players were and hit balls to opposite areas. 'Super' did a great job of mixing her shots up where she would come in and just bang the ball and get the defense moving back to the back line. Then with her next shot, looked like she was going to hit the same ball and just roll one in or tip it in. When you do that, your defense gets back on their heels," he added.
Fort Hays returns to action Friday and Saturday at the Rockhurst tourney in Kansas City, Mo.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |