Huskies host in-state rival for home opener
The lights at Gampel will be turned back on tonight and the crowd should be raucous. No, they will not be watching Hasheem Thabeet throwing down dunks or A.J. Price draining jumpers. What will be on display is the UConn volleyball team, flying around the court, spiking the ball with the same fury as any Thabeet slam.
After three weeks of touring the country to play in numerous tournaments, the volleyball team (6-3) will finally get a chance to battle on their home floor when they take on Fairfield (2-8) tonight at 7 p.m.
"After being on the road for three weekends in a row, we are excited and ready to compete on our home court,"
said head coach Holly Strauss.
Strauss has been pleased with how her team has matched up with their tougher opponents, but says the team needs to work on the little things in order to be more consistent.
In the Huskies' last match against Michigan State, the statistics between the teams were nearly even, however, too many unforced errors cost them the match. Strauss says that the 25-point set format - down from 30 points a year ago - allows for a much smaller margin of error for all teams.
UConn started the season with five straight wins but have since lost three of four matches. When any team hits a rough patch, the answer is almost always to get back to fundamentals and that will certainly be the focus heading into the match against Fairfield according to Strauss.
"We need to put consistent pressure on Fairfield from the service line, play hard together and pass and terminate effectively,"
Strauss said.
Freshman Annie Luhrsen and senior Megan Frey lead the team in service aces and will be counted on to put pressure on the Fairfield defense. Luhrsen has collected 333 of the team's 388 assists on the year.
But Strauss was quick to dismiss the notion that any one player had to set up to improve the team's consistency for the rest of the year.
"We do not rely on any particular player to win any match for us. It's really quite simple; our team needs everybody to do their respective job and it will do well."
Fairfield has dropped six straight matches and should have a tough time dealing with UConn's size advantage. Freshman Jordan Kirk and senior Chauntay Mickens lead the Huskies in kills and as long as they get their opportunities, they should have a field day against the smaller Fairfield team.
Fairfield's libero Brandi Higa will have to do a great job of keeping the ball alive for the Stags if they hope to be competitive against the Huskies. Karlie Urbaniak will inherit the chore of matching Mickens and Kirk kill for kill when the action begins.
After a long stretch on the road, tonight's match is the first of six consecutive home matches to close out the month. Only four matches remain for the Huskies before they open up Big East play.
