By Elise Nikolic
Staff Writer
The game against Western Tech was neck and neck when ARCC captain stepped behind the line to serve. The Rams had struggled through out their first set to hold the points down. Arcc volleyball Captain Jordan Moening waited for the crowd to fall silent and then launched her float serve to the opposing team. The Rams went on to win 3-0 bring them to 6-7 conference record.
The Rams volleyball ended the season strong with an 11-16 record overall. Two of the teams in their conference went on to play in nationals (Rochester community and technical College, and Ridgewater College), so they played some big competitors. Head coach Susan Hartfiel said “Overall, this year we did better and won twice as many conferences as before.”
Hartfiel used a different technique in coaching the team this year. “I sat them down at the beginning of the season and told them our biggest weaknesses in previous years and what we have to do to change that, and I found three changes needed to occur; improve kills per game, add a half a block per match, and improve serving percent.” Hartfiel found improvement overall as a result from hitting but not in blocks or serving aces.
Hartfiel plans on using the same method next year in discussing before the season about what they need to improve to win more games. She said “We started out strong, but our biggest downfall was serving; serving is critical in volleyball.”
The Rams volleyball’s goal was to make playoffs and they came just short of that. Their last game was away at Ridgewater College and the Rams lost to them in four sets to a 3rd ranked team nationally. Hartfiel said, “Improving is important and even though we didn’t reach all of our goals, we are building for upcoming years.”