That's It, That's All

With not much to play for on the final game of the season for the Viking Volleyball Program, the Lady Vikes hoped to end a rough season on a high note as they faced off against a tough opponent in the Wenatchee Valley Knights. Knowing what needed to be done to end up on the winning side of games, and failing to make the adjustment summarized the 2023 campaign for BBCC volleyball and the final game was no different. As Head Coach Alexa Moser stated numerous times throughout the season, one player cannot win a game on her own. "Same story as all season, when we were in system and could run our middles, especially Dakota Killian, things were going our way. But again, you can't rely on one player to win a volleyball match for you. Inconsistent is the word I would use to describe last night and our play all season. Last night, we struggled with starting each set, we were back to being down 8-1 to start the set, digging ourselves a hole, whereas the previous few games we started strong, but couldn't get past 18 and would let teams go on a run at the end of a set. Volleyball is a game of momentum and if you can't find a way to keep it on your side, it's hard to battle through that. Moving forward we have to find a way to be consistent. We can't pick and choose when we want to show up and compete. We saw how competitive the East region is this year and teams aren't going to just give away free points, you have to earn them and every point matters whether its start of set 1 and it's 1-1 or it's the end of set 3 and you're tied 23-23."

With frustration in the rear view mirror the Lady Vikes were simply outmatched in their final game as they fell in three straight set by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-10 to ultimately end their season. "We were just outmatched last night. Wenatchee is a really good team, offensively and defensively and we just couldn't get anything going. They are a very scrappy team and balls that we're normally getting kills on, Wenatchee is picking up and you could see that start to take a toll on our hitters because we couldn't find the open spots on the court. Our net play also struggled last night which was frustrating because our blockers have been a powerhouse at the net all season and we only walked away with one block. And when your offense and defense is struggling, it's hard to score points because you're waiting on the other team to make mistakes and Wenatchee is too good of a team to be making errors."

With the season coming to a close, the Lady Vikes aim to pull as many positives as they can as they begin their new journey under the guidance of first year Head Coach Alexa Moser. After a tough first season Moser has a plan moving forward and had this to say regarding the final game of the season. "Unfortunately again, things didn't go our way, and our season didn't go the way we wanted. But wins and losses don't define who Big Bend Volleyball is because there are so many good takeaways and wins that we had throughout this season. To have girls on the team that battled through loss of family members, we have girls battling through sprained ankles, stress fractures and torn ligaments in knees. We beat Spokane early on in season and I don't think that has been done in years at Big Bend, we took NIC who is one of the top teams in the NWAC to 4 sets and Big Bend hasn't done that in 4 years. We have Dakota Killian finishing #5 in the NWAC for blocks per set. Laura Forsgren in the top 10 for digs per set. I'm really proud of the way these girls showed up day in and day out and poured the hearts out on the floor, competing until the very end."

The future is bright for BBCC Volleyball and Moser is excited moving forward. "That wraps us season for us. I want to thank the sophomores; Laura, Grace and Dakota for all their hard work and dedication to this program, the freshmen for committing to me and the future that we're building here for Big Bend Volleyball, and to my assistants for all the help and long hours they put in along side me.The Vikes are ready to get it after it in the off season."

Until next year!