Confidence is a strange thing in sports. You have too much of it and you run the risk of becoming overconfident and getting cut down by weaker opposition. Yet having too little confidence is a recipe for defeat. A team must find the right balance between believing in its abilities and playing within its means to be successful on the court.
The Marquette women’s volleyball team has learned the importance of confidence the hard way this year, as it stands at 11-7 this season and 1-3 in the Big East.
After racing out to a 9-2 start to the season, the Golden Eagles hit a road block and dropped five of six, including their first two Big East matches.
“We were nervous coming into the Big East,” sophomore Ashley Beyer said. “I think we were overconfident but now we know we can win and know we can do our thing.”
Confidence levels played a huge role over the weekend as Marquette split two games against Big East foes at the Al McGuire Center, losing to Seton Hall in five sets while handling Rutgers with ease.
“We were up and down,” junior Rabbecka Gonyo said. “We just need to stay more consistent.”
In the loss against Seton Hall Friday night, Marquette looked like two different teams. The first and fourth sets saw a confident squad hit .333 and .279, respectively. However, the second and third sets saw a tepid Marquette team make sloppy errors and hit .194 and .051, respectively.
“You just have to forget about it,” Beyer said. “You can’t dread on a game because if you do, you’re just going to do bad the next games.”
A more confident Marquette team came out against Rutgers Sunday. Players were loose in the pre-game warm-ups and there was no sign of residual effects from the tough five set loss two nights prior. The result was a three set steamrolling of the Scarlet Knights, who never held the lead.
“The quote that I kind of threw at the team before the match is that Pat Riley said ‘Greatness springs naturally from great attitude,’ “ Shymansky said. “I told the team that I believed in them and I believe that they had a great attitude about what they can accomplish and they did show it.
“They showed it before the match, they showed it during warm-ups, and they showed it all the way through the match. It was a good win for us and we need to take that confidence with us on the road next weekend.”
A big part of the team’s renewed confidence lies in Beyer’s recent performances. The transfer from Kishwaukee College has led Marquette in kills the past three matches, tallying 55 during that span, and she currently leads the team with 209 kills on the season.
“She plays the whole game and it just took her a little while to get adjusted to our system, a little while to get adjusted to Division I volleyball,” Shymansky said. “She’s out there owning it right now, though, and we need that. We’re counting on her as we continue to move forward in conference play.”
