Despite beginning their season with a 3-5 record, the women's volleyball team has started strong. They are a team full of talent, drive and devotion. In their first bouts, they dropped two consecutive matches to ECAC powers MIT and Smith College, respectively, losing 3-0 each time. Both the MIT game and the Smith game were played in very much the same style.

In their home opener, the Judges played host to the MIT Engineers. A rematch of last season's ECAC semifinal match, the Judges fought hard but were unable to come away victorious.

Although they lost the first game by a score of 30-17, the team pulled it together to play a solid second game, forcing the Engineers to put up a tough fight. In the end, it was not enough, as MIT edged the Judges by a score of 30-24. The Judges again put out their best effort in the third game, but it was too little too late as the Engineers went on to a 30-20 win and a 3-0 sweep.

In the match, outside hitter Jenny Sandler '08 led the team with seven kills. Sandler and fellow rookie Shannon Trees '08 led the defense with eight digs each. Although the Judges were not victorious against their ECAC rivals, coach Michelle Kim was proud of her team's performance but noted a few flaws.

"We came out flat," Kim said. "MIT's setter and middle players are very strong. Their outside hitter handled the ball well and the team as a whole forced mistakes from us."

Hoping to bounce back from their tough loss to MIT, the Judges traveled to Smith College to take on the Pioneers. Again, the team came prepared to play, but dropped their second match in a row by the same score of 3-0.

"The games were practically identical," Kim said.

The Judges fought hard all the way through and kept it close. In the first game, the team was unable to recover from a four-point deficit and lost the first game, 30-17. The team, however, came roaring back in the second set, keeping the game air tight. However, they were unable to hold on as the Pioneers sealed the game, scoring the final 12 points and winning by a score of 30-27.

In the final game of the night, the Judges were unable to hold on as Smith pulled away to win the game 30-19 and beat the Judges 3-0.

On offense, outside and middle hitter Jen Lobban '05 paced the team with 14 kills. On the defensive side, Sandler led the team in digs for the second time with 14.

After losing two consecutive matches, the Judges bounced back with a bang to beat Clark University on its home court by a score of 3-1. In the first match, the team rallied from a 28-24 deficit to come back and beat the host Cougars in an extremely close match by a score of 31-29.

"We had to be very mentally focused," Lobban said. "At one time the score was 29-25 and we had to win every point. After winning that first match, we were on a high; we realized we could take this team. It started the day off well."

Lobban's fellow captain and middle hitter Becca Segal '05 led the team on the offensive side with 13 kills, while Sandler again paced the team on defense with 13 digs. After winning their closest game yet, the Judges dropped the second game 30-28, but were able to rally back and dominate the Cougars in the next two games, 30-18 and 30-23.

Although the Judges played very well and held it together to win against Clark, they were not so fortunate in the next match against Endicott College. During the face-off with Endicott, the squad seemed to have lost its touch.

"I don't know what happened," Lobban said. "We weren't playing like a team as much, maybe we were tired. Things just weren't clicking."

Although Endicott swept the Judges, 31-29, 30-26 and 30-28, the squad kept things close as they never lost by more than four points. For the fourth straight game, Sandler led the team on defense with 10 digs, while captain and setter Shannon Eagan '05 and right side hitter Jenna Polinsky '06 paced the offense with seven kills each.

The players as well as the coaches feel as though the lack of wins comes from not having enough time to adequately prepare for their season. Because the team had a short preseason and has not yet had a full week of nothing but practice, the squad feels as though it just needs some time off from games to work on individual skills.

"We haven't had enough time to work on one specific area," Kim said. "We have no matches this week so hopefully we will be able to work on skill areas, such as reducing the number of receiving errors. It's tough having so many games so quickly, but we will focus on improving during our week off."

"We need to work on individual things like blocking and passing," Lobban said. We also need to work on putting it all together. This week off should be helpful."

Although the Judges have not been very successful so far, Kim is positive that things will change. She recognizes that her opponents are tough and she likes it. She knows that her team is skilled and that this they will soon start to shine.

"I want to play tough teams," Kim said."We will get better. I believe in them and the players believe in themselves. We have great leadership on the court and I know it will happen."

With no games this week, hopefully the women will be able to work on their weaknesses and get ready to travel to Quincy and take on Eastern Nazarene College on Sept 21.

The Judges will then play again two days later when they host Babson College.