By Stan Caldwell
HATTIESBURG – William Carey University finally made its volleyball home debut Tuesday night, and a smashing debut it was.
The Crusaders head into their Southern States Athletic Conference schedule with a good head of steam after a dominant 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-14) victory over Tougaloo at the Ben Waddle Athletic Facility.
WCU improved to 9-4 overall, the Bulldogs dropped to 0-5.
"We're pretty much a brand-new team," said second-year head coach Ronda Shirley. "I just think we're going to keep getting better as the season goes along.
"Every day, I'm excited about getting into the gym, because I see someone's lightbulb go off as they learn something new, or something clicks. We're not close to our peak, and that's exciting."
Carey took command almost from the start with aggressive play at the net. Freshman Suelen Lima announced her presence at 1-1 with a monster slam, the first of her game-high eight kills and a team total of 40 for the match.
Lima, one of six players of the Crusaders' roster from Brazil, had four of her kills in the first set.
"We started the game pretty fast," said Lima. "The setters gave us some good balls that were good for me and good for the team."
Still, Tougaloo hung in the game through the early part of the first set, tying the score three times, and the Bulldogs trailed 7-6 with the serve.
But Lima smashed a kill from the left side of the net to regain the serve for the Crusaders, ignited a 12-3 scoring run that effectively put the set away.
Senior Barbara Guedes fired an ace, Lima had another kill and senior Elaina Anderson had the first of her seven kills for the match. In all, WCU had 16 kills in the first set.
"We've spent countless hours in this gym, starting at the very beginning of August," said Anderson. "We've done nothing but work our hardest, so I think we deserved this win today.We've put all of our time and effort into each practice."
Carey started the second set like it might shut out Tougaloo, opening up a 5-0 lead, before junior Lashundria Chatman landed a kill to get the Bulldogs on the scoreboard. Chatman had a productive night for Tougaloo with five kills in 16 total attacks.
The Crusaders kept the heat on, with back-to-back kills from Anderson and freshman Gabriela Maciera, quickly opening up a 12-point lead, and they cruised to the 25-11 victory.
Defensively, WCU had 13 service aces and 41 digs, both of which Shirley pointed to as big keys to the victory. Junior Evelyn Araujo had 11 digs to lead the Crusader, with Maciera and junior Katarina Vulic added six digs apiece.
"We work really hard on our serves," said Shirley. "I feel like the serve is the first part of the defense. A lot of coaches just think of defense in terms of digs and blocks.
"But if you can get them out of system from the start and not allow them to use all of their attackers with a bad pass, that sets up your defenders to be stronger."
Carey trailed for the only time all night to begin the third set, spotting the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead, before ripping off seven unanswered points.
Lima got the rally started with a kill and Anderson finished it with another kill, and Maciera had a pair of aces. In all, Anderson had three kills in the third set, Lima had two and freshman Marcella Hermont had a pair of kills, finishing with seven kills and 13 total assists.
"It was real exciting to play at home," said Anderson. "We did our best to get a lot of people out here tonight to show their support. Getting them hyped up and getting ourselves hyped up, it was nice to finally showcase what we're made of."
One thing the Crusaders have this season that they did not have last season in finishing 16-20 overall is talented depth. A total of 15 players got some game action and the final stat sheet showed contributions from a number of players.
"I think we had to put too much of the burden on Elaina and (Guedes)," said Shirley. "This year, I feel like we are more balanced, and those are the types of teams I like to have.
"If someone has an off night, somebody else is going to pick up the slack, I think that's what this team does."
With the bulk of its non-conference schedule behind it, Carey now turns to SSAC play, with a weekend road trip to Tennessee Southern on Friday and Blue Mountain on Saturday.
"We start off 0-0," said Shirley. "We talk about the season in three parts, the preseason tournaments, the conference and postseason. We've completed the first part, now it's on to the second part of the season, and records don't matter.
"But I think right now, we're more comfortable being away than on our home court. So I think it's going to be a bit of an advantage for us playing away, because we're already so used to it."
The Crusaders were picked fifth in the SSAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, with Blue Mountain picked to win the conference.
"I think we stack up pretty well in the conference," said Anderson. "We've got a lot of new additions to the team, so I feel like people are definitely going to be talking about us."
