Thursday Notebook: Albany State plays for pride
*Note: Coverage of the Bulldogs match against Albany State and a photo gallery is below.*
*Conor Nicholl*
Albany State doesn’t have the same expectations as Truman. The Bulldogs have one focus: national championship. The Golden Rams want to represent their school in the NCAA Tournament.
The two squads paired up in the first round of the South Central Regional on Thursday night at Pershing Arena.
For the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, a powerhouse that entered the night 35-1 and hadn’t lost since the first match of the season, they just wanted to rest their starters and move on step closer to a goal that they have tried accomplishing in the past six years: capturing the last match of the season.
They did just that, playing plenty of freshman and emptying their entire bench en route to a 3-0 victory.
For Albany State, it’s playing hard and representing their school.
Sure, they would love to shock the volleyball establishment and pull one of the greatest upsets in volleyball history. Like every No. 16 seed in college basketball’s March Madness, they try to become the Cinderella’s, the team that pulls the incredible upset.
“It means a lot to get here, but it doesn’t mean much because we always aim to get past the first round,” senior middle hitter Alona Brinson said. “But we were playing the No. 1 team in the country.”
Still, though, they never get tired of traveling halfway across the country, a chance to play against teams they only see in the weekly polls and on the national radar. They hope to compete, to spread the program that is Albany State.
“We play hard, we have fun and we enjoy it,” Brinson said. “Every year, we always play as hard as we can.”
They, like the rest of the conference, have to win their conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament. And, incredibly, for the sixth straight season – they did.
After losing their two starting outside hitters early this season, head coach Robert Skinner had to reload and regroup. He mixed different players, received a superlative performance from his front line and blockers and led his squad to a conference tourney championship. They entered the region with a 15-20 record, the worst mark of any team in the tournament.
We had to make a lot of adjustments and play people that we weren’t supposed to play this year,” Brinson said.
Still, they got in. And after five straight years, they kept the same goals in mind. Try and shock the country with an upset. Or take a game – a game that no one in the volleyball establishment thought they could win. But, above and all, they wanted to play deliver a solid performance.
“My goal was just to come in and play well and just give it an all-out effort,” Skinner said. “If we took one game, fine, but if we didn’t take one. We wanted to give an all-out effort, play hard and represent the university and represent the city of Albany well and I really believe that we have done that.”
They stayed with the Bulldogs, forcing the purple and white to keep their starters in for the entire first game. An 11-0 run by the home team opened up the first game, leading to a 30-14 victory. They dropped the second game by the same margin, but changed things in the final game.
And in the third set, Albany State put a scare into the Bulldogs and their faithful, drawing a nervous restlessness to the crowd.
“It is a faster pace, so the other thing we can do is make them play our game,” senior middle hitter Charity Glover. It’s good competition. We enjoy it.”
The Golden Rams took a 16-15 lead and was behind just two at 20-18.
“We try to slow them down and make them play a little bit of ugly volleyball,” Skinner said. “ … What we try to do, is keep them off balance as much as possible and play at a slower pace and then get some things done around the net, and it worked for a little while, but then it seemed like talented kind of prevailed and their ball-handling took over.”
The ’Dogs eased to a third set victory, 30-22, but Albany State was pleased with its performance. The third set also provided an extra boost of confidence that next year could move the Golden Rams a little closer to their first two goals.
“I think it is motivation for next year to come in and get further than we did,” Glover said. “Each year, it builds us up more and more in motivation so we know what to expect and just try next year.”
*Conor Nicholl*
Albany State doesn’t have the same expectations as Truman. The Bulldogs have one focus: national championship. The Golden Rams want to represent their school in the NCAA Tournament.
The two squads paired up in the first round of the South Central Regional on Thursday night at Pershing Arena.
For the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, a powerhouse that entered the night 35-1 and hadn’t lost since the first match of the season, they just wanted to rest their starters and move on step closer to a goal that they have tried accomplishing in the past six years: capturing the last match of the season.
They did just that, playing plenty of freshman and emptying their entire bench en route to a 3-0 victory.
For Albany State, it’s playing hard and representing their school.
Sure, they would love to shock the volleyball establishment and pull one of the greatest upsets in volleyball history. Like every No. 16 seed in college basketball’s March Madness, they try to become the Cinderella’s, the team that pulls the incredible upset.
“It means a lot to get here, but it doesn’t mean much because we always aim to get past the first round,” senior middle hitter Alona Brinson said. “But we were playing the No. 1 team in the country.”
Still, though, they never get tired of traveling halfway across the country, a chance to play against teams they only see in the weekly polls and on the national radar. They hope to compete, to spread the program that is Albany State.
“We play hard, we have fun and we enjoy it,” Brinson said. “Every year, we always play as hard as we can.”
They, like the rest of the conference, have to win their conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament. And, incredibly, for the sixth straight season – they did.
After losing their two starting outside hitters early this season, head coach Robert Skinner had to reload and regroup. He mixed different players, received a superlative performance from his front line and blockers and led his squad to a conference tourney championship. They entered the region with a 15-20 record, the worst mark of any team in the tournament.
We had to make a lot of adjustments and play people that we weren’t supposed to play this year,” Brinson said.
Still, they got in. And after five straight years, they kept the same goals in mind. Try and shock the country with an upset. Or take a game – a game that no one in the volleyball establishment thought they could win. But, above and all, they wanted to play deliver a solid performance.
“My goal was just to come in and play well and just give it an all-out effort,” Skinner said. “If we took one game, fine, but if we didn’t take one. We wanted to give an all-out effort, play hard and represent the university and represent the city of Albany well and I really believe that we have done that.”
They stayed with the Bulldogs, forcing the purple and white to keep their starters in for the entire first game. An 11-0 run by the home team opened up the first game, leading to a 30-14 victory. They dropped the second game by the same margin, but changed things in the final game.
And in the third set, Albany State put a scare into the Bulldogs and their faithful, drawing a nervous restlessness to the crowd.
“It is a faster pace, so the other thing we can do is make them play our game,” senior middle hitter Charity Glover. It’s good competition. We enjoy it.”
The Golden Rams took a 16-15 lead and was behind just two at 20-18.
“We try to slow them down and make them play a little bit of ugly volleyball,” Skinner said. “ … What we try to do, is keep them off balance as much as possible and play at a slower pace and then get some things done around the net, and it worked for a little while, but then it seemed like talented kind of prevailed and their ball-handling took over.”
The ’Dogs eased to a third set victory, 30-22, but Albany State was pleased with its performance. The third set also provided an extra boost of confidence that next year could move the Golden Rams a little closer to their first two goals.
“I think it is motivation for next year to come in and get further than we did,” Glover said. “Each year, it builds us up more and more in motivation so we know what to expect and just try next year.”
posted by Conor Nicholl at Friday, November 10, 2006
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