Emotion leads Big Bend volleyball over Blue Mountain

MOSES LAKE - Something was different for the Big Bend Community College volleyball team on Wednesday night.

No, it wasn't freshman outside hitter Rae Smith, who was thrown into a starting middle blocker's spot with one day's notice after an illness to Kortney Klein and an injury to Natalie Lindley. It wasn't even an improved blocking scheme or big offensive nights from Niki Forsberg and Kaitie Poston.

The difference for the Lady Vikings was confidence. Though Big Bend had already lost to the Blue Mountain Timberwolves earlier this season, no one would've known it after the Lady Vikings earned a 30-25, 30-22, 30-26 win at DeVries Activity Center.

"Volleyball's such a huge emotional sport," Vikings head coach Michael De Hoog said. "You have to be in a positive frame of mind, total self-belief, self-confidence. It's nice that they're showing that."

Needing a win to move past Blue Mountain and out of last place in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges' East Division, Big Bend (2-5) didn't come into the night in tip-top condition. Lindley was still missing after injuring her ankle on Sept. 26 against Yakima Valley, and Klein learned yesterday that she'd contracted strep throat for the second time this season.

That left the Vikings' middle blocking corps very thin, requiring De Hoog to give Smith some repetitions in Tuesday's practice. The freshman hadn't played the position since high school, but did well against the Timberwolves - six kills, two digs, two aces and one assist.

"We stuck her in there and she did a good job," De Hoog said of Smith. "She looked comfortable out there."

Lindley will likely miss another week with her bad ankle, De Hoog noted.

"She's kind of stubborn," he added. "She thinks quicker, but I'm a little more realistic about it."

Putting away their opponents has been a problem for the Lady Vikings, but it wasn't Wednesday. A back-and-forth game one ended with four straight Viking points, including an Ali Walen ace and a Blue Mountain hitting error. Walen also had a good match, finishing with 15 digs, five kills and three aces.

The Timberwolves took a 5-0 lead in game two, but Big Bend owned play the rest of the way, winning 10 of the last 12 points to break a 20-20 tie. Smith's ace and Poston's block gave Big Bend a 2-0 lead.

Poston led an improved defensive effort, tying for the team lead in kills with 10 and adding two blocks.

"Definitely better," De Hoog said of his ladies' defense. "Our blockers were set up properly and allowed our back row to get better reads off of them."

It showed in the final statistics - Blue Mountain hit only .042 for the match and had 19 attacking errors.

Forsberg added 11 digs, 10 kills and hit .318. Malorie Clark had seven kills and nine digs, Laura Tinnell had 33 aces and Jhenesis Garza tied for the match-high with 16 digs. Garza was last week's NWAACC Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 5.83 digs per game in two matches.

The only major problem Big Bend had Wednesday is an ongoing one - serving. The Vikings made 14 errors, most of them in the first two games to keep the Wolves breathing.

"That's kind of our nemesis this season," De Hoog said of serving. "It's in our minds right now, 'Don't miss, don't miss,' when in reality we should be, 'OK, I'm going to get this in.'"

Big Bend takes part in the NWAACC Crossover Tournament this weekend at Clackamas Community College in Oregon, then returns to league play next Wednesday at Spokane.