When Journey lead singer Steve Perry belts out "When the lights go out in the city," he most likely was not talking about Richmond, Ky.,but in this case he would be on the right track.
The lights did go out in Richmond due to a campus-wide power outage on the Eastern Kentucky University campus, which caused the volleyball team's first match in the Nike Invitational to be postponed until Saturday.
The game delay, however, did not serve as a distraction to the team, according to head coach Pati Rolf.
"I think the kids adjusted, and Saturday morning we looked good and we got our feet wet in the first match where a lot of people were able to play," she said.
When the team finally played its tournament games, the results were mixed: the Golden Eagles went 1-1 over the weekend.
The three-game minimum was all that was needed in the team's first match versus UNC Greensboro, winning with scores of 30-16, 30-20 and 30-19. In the first game the Golden Eagles hit at match-high 42.3 percent and finished the match with a percentage of 32.9 percent.Senior outside hitter Theresa Coughlin led the Golden Eagles with 15 kills and hit 60 percent in the match.
In the second match of the tournament against host Eastern Kentucky, the team fell to the Colonels in four games.
With scores of 29-31, 30-28, 28-30 and 26-30, the Colonels had to rip the win away from the Golden Eagles, who would not give up.
The Golden Eagles put EKU to the test by earning 25 kills opposed to the Colonels' 18 in game one, but EKU hit 34.1 percent.
The second game went in favor of the Golden Eagles as they won 30-28. The team was down 19-12 and tied the game at 26. Riding momentum, the Golden Eagles took four of the next six points and picked up the win, giving the Colonels their first home loss this year.
"Eastern Kentucky is a great team," Rolf said. "I thought I was watching my old team, North Dakota State, out there. They are really scrappy, smart, and aware of where we were. They really were playing smart little people ball and playing with finesse during the match."
Games three and four belonged to the Colonels, but the two teams stayed neck and neck with each other in the final two games.
The Golden Eagles finished the four game match with four players in double-digit kills. Sophomore middle blocker Tiffany Helmbrecht finished with a career high 17, sophomore middle blocker Jenn Brown finished with 13, while sophomore outside hitter Kimberley Todd ended with 22 and Coughlin had 21.
Coughlin and Helmbrecht represented the Golden Eagles on the all-tournament team. This marks the fourth all-tournament team Coughlin has made this season.
The 1-1 record on the weekend gives the Golden Eagles a 6-5 overall record going into Big East play. They will host South Florida on Friday at 7 p.m. and Georgetown on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center.
"South Florida is struggling a little bit," Rolf said. "They are always athletic and physically strong. It will be interesting what other parts of their game they have developed since the season started."
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 20, 2005.