Game Week Update: CU Ball Busters

19th February 2024 – Game Week Update, CU vs. Valdosta State Blazers

The next stop for the Columtreal team in the early second half of the season was in Valdosta, Georgia. Our research showed that the Teams were even on the scout reports, however Columtreal had an emotional and possibly teamwork edge as a result of their 5-game win streak. This game was therefore going to be a treat for the fans; would the CU team make it a sexy six, or would they crash their streak to the fourth ranked Valdosta?

Match Report

Despite coming in short-handed as Jenny Gates had left the Columtreal Team roster, the Ballbusters decided to aim for a short game; possibly in an attempt to close it before the gap in the rotation would tire them out. CU delivered an overpowering 25-19 win in the first set but as with everything, landing a first blow did not ensure a knockout and Valdosta State had not drawn their last breath.

The second set came alive as the Blazers brought out their heavy guns and pushed the Columtreal team into a wild chase after the ball, forcing frequent freeballs and bombarding the back row with volleys of hard driven spikes. Letting the lead of the set slip only once from their hands (or rather ball), the Blazers drove the second set into close 26-25 win for the home team.

Aware of the possible difficulty of a prolonged game, the Columtreal side fielded their top line up for the third. However the Blazers were set on not letting the visiting team rule their home court. Bringing an excellent defence, the Ballbuster attacks kept getting returned, time after time, prolonging the game and pushing the Columtreal players to their limits. Supported by the strong fan energy and frequent team huddles, the CU team held on, but eventually fell to exhaustion after an excruciating battle giving the second victorious set to the home team at 32-30.

Now their streak was really on the line! CU entered the fourth set tired, yet driven, chanting their way to the court. As the Valdosta crew kept their awareness of their rotation advantage, their tactic seemed to be to keep the ball in the game at all costs, draining the Ballbusters for their last bits of energy with every ball. This seemed a good approach and it was working, but the Ball Busters refused to let the other team do all the talking. As Captain Flores passed the setting over to Smith, she took the role of the back court sniper, while Rachel “Rage” Wesson took the front row heavy hitting duty. The pair eventually delivered 21 out of the 28 points in the set closing it at 28-26. And so the 5th deciding set was bound to happen.

For the 5th, with time and their breath running out, the Columtreal team drew heavily on team spirit and the experience of their field general Maya Flores, every ball, won or lost was followed with a close team huddle. The captain appealed to the fans and illicited often a new round of chanting to help build the CU momentum and spirit. The match was back and forth with neither team unable to hold the lead for longer than two services. Exhausted but unbroken, at a 15-15 tie, Flores ventured into the bleachers for a daring recovery that Wesson capitalized on pushing the score to the 16-15 for the Ball Busters. With a short medical break, the Columtreals managed to gamble the time to catch their breath and recover from their injury after that painful dive. Now though, there was no stopping the applause when Maya, lucky number 8, returned to the court with a tampon in her nose to keep the bleeding at bay.

Round of cheers, high fives and fist bumps later, Kaori Yasuda on the service forced a freeball from the Valdosta squad, giving CU a much needed opportunity to play their way in this high risk-high reward scenario. Blanchet received the easy ball, letting Smith go to work and set the ball by the attack line to the high flying Wesson faking out and Flores who fired a reverse cross into the newly created opening. This put the game at 17-15 for CU, and took the team onto a 6-game win streak.

Only two teams on the roster remain on the 1st spot of the league, and they are bound to meet on March 3rd. Which of the two Titans is gonna fall? Who will remain the driver of the season? Join us in two weeks for the highlight game of the season.

Look out for our exclusive interview with Rachel ‘Rage’ Wesson coming to the Observer shortly. Maybe we will also have some more goodies to give away like last time! (remember this image?)

Set Results by Numbers

Set 1: 25-19

Set 2; 24-26

Set 3: 30-32

Set 4: 28-26

Set 5: 17-15

Conference Standings After Week 7

((Previous match write-up here. You can find others with search for ‘volleyball’ on the Observer))