After a triumphant victory against Villanova last week, the volleyball team hopes to notch wins at the Fullerton Classic at Cal State Fullerton this weekend.
The Bulldogs (2–4, 0–0 Ivy) will battle their hosts, the Fullerton Titans (5–5, 0–0 Big West), on Friday before facing the No. 22 UCLA Bruins (6–2, 0–0 Pacific 12) and Georgetown Hoyas (6–4, 0–0 Big East) on Saturday.
“This is a big trip,” captain Mollie Rogers said. “We want to arrive in Fullerton ready to play.”
After her domination at the Villanova Classic, which included 34 kills and 23 digs, Rogers was named to the Ivy League honor roll and last weekend’s All-Tournament team.
Freshman teammate Kelsey Crawford ’18, a setter, also received Ivy League recognition. Crawford totaled a deadly 81 assists in last weekend’s matches and was named this week’s Ivy League rookie of the week.
“It’s really hard to get an award when you go 1-2 on the weekend,” head coach Erin Appleman said. “So I’m really excited that she got this honor, and she’s been playing really great.”
Fellow setter Kelly Johnson ’16 earned the same honor twice her freshman year. Johnson said the team is excited to play against a top-25 team again this weekend.
Johnson said the women have been working in practice to play as team in order to match up to UCLA’s high level of play.
“It’s always so much fun to play against great competition and use it to make us better,” Johnson said. “We have been working extremely hard in preparation.”
Johnson and Rogers agreed that the travel schedule is especially difficult for the team this week because it is flying across the country. Johnson added that getting used to the time difference will be an added challenge.
“We are dealing with a time change, but we do our best to just focus on our game since that is an aspect we can fully control,” Johnson said.
She noted that since every gym is different, the Bulldogs will have to adapt and learn to play in the new environment quickly in order to be in top shape for tonight’s match against Fullerton.
The team will face its first Ivy opponents of the season when it travels to Providence to face the Brown Bears on Sept. 26. After the weekend, the Elis will play a series of away matches against all seven Ivy opponents.