The Missouri Western volleyball game against Pitt State Friday night was a prime example of how important it is to finish strong rather than start strong.

Pitt State was ranked No. 11 in the nation and Missouri Western had been struggling all year.

In the first game, Western jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. There were several lead changes early on until the Gorillas took control at the end of the game and won, 30-25.

The second game was close for the first few points, and despite a service ace followed by a murderous kill to make the score 5-4, the Gorillas once again overtook the Griffons 30-20.

The Griffons had their backs against the wall heading into the third game. They jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead. However, the poise and composure from the 11th ranked team in the nation brought them back to tie the game at 17.

There were a few lead changes until the Gorillas eventually took the third game 30-25 and won the match.

Kills artist, senior Alyssa Berg, who had a team high 12 kills, believes the team is getting better just not at a fast enough pace.
“We’re improving slowly but not fast enough,” Berg said. “We want to win.”

The team’s play has good spurts, but inconsistency has been a constant issue this season for the Griffons. Junior Hallie Delagardelle thought that was one of the problems in the loss on Friday night.

“I thought we played great at times, but we need to take those times and be more consistent,” Delagardelle said.

As for jumping out to early leads, Berg thinks a lack of focus as the game goes on could contribute to giving up those leads.
“We’re gonna get leads, but then we just need to have the extra focus to keep them (the opponent) from coming back,” Berg said.

Head coach Tiffany Mastin thought the team played well, but could have done better as the games reached the later points.
“I think we should have played with a little bit more intensity,” Mastin said, “I think we did a lot of great things, but I think we got to about 24 in every game, and just thought that was good enough.”

Mastin was happy to see her team get out to unfamiliar early leads, but thought they could have finished stronger.
“We’re usually down early in games, but I think we’ve gotta finish games more,” Mastin said.

With only five games left, the Griffons want to try to continue to get better, and end the season on a positive note  for next season.

The loss on Friday night dropped the Griffons record to 9-17 overall and 1-7 in the MIAA.