The Waldorf volleyball team is off to the school’s best start, starting the season 8-1. The Warriors will take that momentum into tonight’s match with #9 Viterbo inside the Hanson Fieldhouse.
“In conference, it’s understood that it’s a dog fight every single night,” said Waldorf volleyball coach Bri Ebenhoe.
Ebenhoe is right. In the North Star Athletic Association, not every team is guaranteed to play in the postseason conference tournament. Only six of the eight schools make it. Along with Viterbo, Bellevue is nationally rated #12, while Dakota State received votes in the latest national poll.
“Our conference is strong top to bottom,” Ebenhoe also said. “We routinely send three teams to nationals, three teams ranked or receiving votes, so there are no off nights – there’s no moment to take a breath,” she added.
The V-Hawks haven’t also had an easy time playing in front of a hostile crowd at the Hanson Fieldhouse. Last year, after Waldorf went down in the first set 25-11, the Warriors battled back to take the second set 28-26, and then didn’t go easy in set 3, losing 25-15 or set 4, losing 25-16. Also, in 2019, Waldorf played right with the V-Hawks all night. They lost the first set 25-22, the second set 25-12, won the third set 28-26 and battled to a tough 25-21 loss in set four.
“We have to be more focused, more tedious, more technical (in conference matches),” said senior Captian Abyigal Wood from Ankeny, Iowa. “In a couple of our games, we haven’t known what the teams looked like, and in the conference (we know them), so we need to be more technical,” she added.
Waldorf started the season 7-0 before falling to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College last Saturday at the Iowa Wesleyan triangular. They came back and beat Iowa Wesleyan in straight sets to end their weekend.
“While our focus (tonight) shifts to every night, every battle mode, we also need to focus on our side of the net. We do what we want to do, control the ball, play the way we want to play, and believe we’re going to be a tough matchup, Ebenhoe said.
The Warriors and V-Hawks will be set to battle at the first serve at 7:00 PM tonight inside the Hanson Fieldhouse. It’s also mental health awareness night, and Waldorf is asking fans to wear green to show support.
