The Lakeland Hawks volleyball team has competed in five games so far this season.
Following their most recent game against the Lake City Timberwolves, the Hawks are ranked first in the 4A Inland Empire league with a record of 3-2.
So far, Ziya Munyer feels the team has had good competition, and they need to keep working so they can be playing their best volleyball by the end of the season.
Lakeland faced Lake City earlier this season, taking the 3-1 victory in their very first game of the season. Such an early win provided the team with hope and motivation that they were able to take into their next game a few days later.
On August 25, the Hawks swept Lewiston, regardless of being away from their home court.
Since then, the Hawks have been struggling as they took two losses after their back-to-back wins.
The Coeur d’Alene Vikings barely managed to beat the Hawks 3-2 in the third week of the season. The whole game was extremely close, as only the third set out of five ended with a deficit of more than five points. Many members of the team see this loss as a result of their errors, and it represents their lack of focus.
This loss was followed by a very tough game against Post Falls in week four that resulted in a 3-0 sweep in the Trojan’s favor. Post Falls is currently the top-ranked Idaho 5A team.
“We beat ourselves in that game; mentally, we were not prepared or checked in,” said Munyer.
On Sep. 7 at 7 p.m., the Hawks once again got to face the Timberwolves.
In the first set of the game, Lake City took an early lead, beating Lakeland 25-23. Despite this, the Hawks quickly bounced back, defeating the Wolves 25-13 in the second set and 25-14 in the third set. Lakeland was then able to close out the game, winning 25-23 in the fourth and final set.
“We started off strong and got in a little rut at the end of the games, but overall, it went pretty well,” said Landree Simon.
The Hawks admitted that they were more focused and ready to play. In practices leading up to the game, they heavily focused on serve-receive drills that helped them to come in and compete.
Now that they are aware they can start off strong, they are optimistic that they will be able to finish strong.
Motivation stemming from last night’s win will carry on to when Lakeland plays tougher teams like Post Falls again.
Lakeland’s next game will take place at home next Tuesday, Sep. 12, at 7 p.m. against the 0-2 Lewiston Bengals.
Many players are so optimistic about the upcoming game that they expect it to go to three sets, allowing them to take the win.
Munyer expects Lewiston to surely be a competition, but she feels the team will be prepared.
