Host New Life Academy swept the visiting Wolfpack in a non-conference match in Woodbury Friday, winning 25-12, 25-17 and 25-10.
The loss dropped the Wolfpack to 1-7 on the season. New Life …
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Host New Life Academy swept the visiting Wolfpack in a non-conference match in Woodbury Friday, winning 25-12, 25-17 and 25-10.
The loss dropped the Wolfpack to 1-7 on the season. New Life improved to 9-1.
Park 3, St. Paul Central 2
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty at times, but it was very satisfying night for the Wolfpack.
Park earned its first win of the season Tuesday with a hard-fought five-set victory over visiting St. Paul Central. The Wolfpack won 25-16, 18-25, 25-9, 22-25 and 15-13.
“(They’re) playing as a team,” said Park head coach Amy Johnson. “We had six individuals on the floor when we started and now they’re starting to trust each other and know that balls hers, that balls mine. Having that trust factor and playing as a team is really, really fun to watch.
“Consistency I would say No. 1 (is the next step),” Johnson continued. “There were times when we did really, really good things on the floor tonight. And sometimes we did things that are kind of like we shouldn’t have done. I would say boneheaded things. Things we normally wouldn’t do but we panicked and we just kind of threw the ball and then bad things happened. So just understanding that we have to play excited and with energy but also with composure. So, learning that mental side of the game – this is 75 percent mental this game. So, if we can get that 75 percent mental under control the physical thing is going to fly through the ceiling.”
Park improved to 1-6-1 on the season, with the win following a tie with Faribault in the Apple Valley tournament.
“I think we did good at staying patient even when things weren’t going our way,” said senior hitter Ameenah Alowonle. “We didn’t give up, we didn’t get down on ourselves, we moved on and we pushed and pushed and we won the game.”
After taking a 2-1 lead in sets, the fourth set started badly for the Wolfpack as Central stormed out to a commanding leads of 10-3 and then 16-10. But the Wolfpack rallied and closed to within 23-22 before eventually falling. That rally set the tone for the decisive third set.
“I feel we did a lot better as working as a whole team, and that’s why we won,” said senior hitter Sophia Field. “Before we had a lot of issues as being individuals, but I think we’ve been slowly coming more and more together which has improved us a ton which has gotten us the win. A lot more communicating and our passing to the setter has gotten a lot better.”
“I think our next step is going to be continuing to bond as a team, continuing to learn each other as players off and on the court so that we can play as a team and move together and make the plays that need to be made,” said Amelia Nieman. “Also, with that, moving our defense, which goes hand-in-hand.”
Park (0-0, 1-7-1) returns to Suburban East Conference play Thursday at Forest Lake (0-0, 5-4), then hosts third-ranked East Ridge (1-0, 8-2) on Monday.
