On Sept. 19, Augustana’s women’s volleyball played against Carthage for their first CCIW match of the year. The Vikings lost 3-2, but they plan to use what they learned from that game in their next upcoming CCIW match against Carrol, which will take place on Sept. 26.
As the team went into their game against Carthage, they knew that Carthage was a tough team and they would have to work hard the entire match.
“Going into Carthage we knew we had to play aggressively and discipline,” senior captain, Emily Westermeyer, said. “Our goal was come out strong and continue to stay focused.”
The head coach, Kelly Bethke, believes that they could have won if they had stayed consistent throughout the match.
“We played really well at times, but had a couple of sets where we struggled,” Bethke said. “We were in position to win the match and didn’t get it done.”
“We did not start off as strong as we had hoped to. We started with a deficit, which is hard to work back from against competitive teams like Carthage, but we played well for the most part,” Westermeyer agreed.
The Vikings plan to use what they learned from this game in order to win against Carroll.
“We learned a good but tough lesson in our game against Carthage of what can happen when we don’t execute if we have the opportunity to,” Westermeyer said. “Against Carrol, we plan on starting the very first serve off strong and not letting up until we have the win.”
Bethke has the same idea in mind.
“We plan to start strong, play together, and play to win,” Bethke said.
Competitive, consistent play will lead any team to victory, but this year the volleyball team has its goals set on getting to the championships.
“The CCIW is known to be one of the toughest conferences in the nation, and every year we miss the opportunity to go to the championship by a game or two. This year, we’re right there with them if not a notch above,” senior captain, Maissie Muisck, said. “This is our year and there isn’t a shred of doubt on our team.”
They don’t plan to stop after the CCIW. Nationals will be after that.
“Our goal is to go to and beyond the conference tournament. By the end, we hope to find ourselves at Nationals,” Muisick said. “If we work as hard, then we can be unstoppable.”
“This team can be dangerous when we put it all together. We’ve had moments and plan to string more of them together to be successful in the bigger upcoming games,” Bethke agreed.
It is important for the team to go far in both tournaments, but they have goals set unrelated to that of volleyball.
“We stress being a student before being an athlete. We want to get all of our responsibilities regarding our education done before we step on the court,” Westermeyer said.
 
“My players are recognizing how to be team players, have commitment and dedication to a team, take responsibility, and how to help others reach their goals,” Bethke said. “Our goal is to win the team academic award each season, so I am really proud of their determination and motivation to improve throughout everything they have been through.”