By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
The Washington volleyball team’s search for its first win of the season continued as the Pam Pack was swept 25-15, 25-17, 25-11 by White Oak Tuesday.
Playing against a middle of the road White Oak team (4-5, 2-2), Washington (0-7, 0-3) was its own worst enemy as unforced errors, poor passing and marginal serving destroyed any kind of momentum the team tried to build.
Pam Pack coach Tara Hunter said of all the team’s miscues, the one that hurt the most was the team’s inability to talk with each other and get on the same page.
“We are having communication problems,” Hunter said. “We would talk for a time period, then we would stop talking. We just can’t seem to continue talking and play our game.”
Some of Washington’s inconsistencies can be attributed to the fact that it is a young team with a limited amount of seniors.
“I have two seniors who were with me last year, so at least they are familiar with me in Blaklee (Wolfe) and Rachel (Toler), but the senior leadership isn’t always there,” Hunter said. “At the same time, we are just a young team.”
White Oak, led by the solid play of Lindsey Wynn, Morgan Cunningham and Katie McLain used two separate 7-0 runs to pull away with a 25-15 victory in the first set.
Washington showed some signs of life in the second set, playing what Hunter called the best set she has seen all season, before succumbing to the Vikings.
In the third set, the wheels fell off for Washington as it got down 18-2 before White Oak began subbing its starters. The Pack picked up a few points to lose 25-11.
The Washington players spirits where never doused as most of them joked and smiled throughout the sweep. It was nice that they didn’t hang their heads, but Hunter said she would like to see a little bit more fire from her team.
“We have to come with the desire that we want to win,” Hunter said. “It’s not something that I can make them have. I have said it repeatedly to them that we do not come with the desire to win. We almost think that it should be given to us. We have to somewhere find the desire. It can’t just be one person, it has to be everybody. … Washington volleyball is in a rut. If we don’t get the win handed to us we are 100 percent okay with taking the loss and not caring. It’s good in a way that they are not hanging their heads, but it’s bad when you are losing 20-2 and we are laughing.”
The only saving grace for Hunter and the Pam Pack was that the team never quit. Despite all of the negatives and losing streaks, the team played hard right until the 25th point of the last set.
“I told them right before the third game that, that second game was one of the best sets I have seen them play since we started back in August,” Hunter said. “They moved their feet more, they were talking more, granted it wasn’t perfect, but it was one of the best games I have seen them play. It’s a stepping stone. We just have to focus one some of the positives and try to build on that.”
Washington’s next match will be Thursday at D.H. Conley.