Stevenson women’s volleyball team remains undefeated, now at 16-0 at the midpoint of their season. The Mustangs had some great early wins, with 10 sweeps and having won all four of their conference games as of Oct 1.
The five seniors are guiding the team to success, according to head coach Dave Trumbo. Just in the past week, senior Katie Leftridge earned MAC Offensive player of the week for the third week in a row. Senior Victoria Prokic also broke the program record for number of blocks.
Prokic became the all-time leader against Washington College with 360 career blocks, surpassing the old program mark of 356. The Mustangs average 1.9 blocks a set, 16.6 digs, and 13.7 kills, according to gomustangsports.com.
Stevenson remains one of three NCAA Division III teams unbeaten along with Johns Hopkins University and Tufts University.
Trumbo said that the mixture of experience and inexperience helps them hold onto their winning streak, and builds the confidence in the younger players.
They have showed resilience coming back in games where they were down, like in their game against Lebanon Valley College. The Mustangs were down 24-19 in the first set and 24-15 in the third set, but came back to win both 26-24 and 29-27 to win the match 3-0.
After beating Albright College and Messiah College earlier in the season, the Mustangs prepared for a very important conference game at Arcadia University on Oct 1. The last two conference title matches have been Stevenson and Arcadia, so the team was ready for a tough game.
Prokic said she was excited to see how the team handles pressure at Arcadia, because they have very high standards to keep.
Against the Knights, the Mustangs faced their biggest test this year. After just 40 minutes Stevenson fell behind two sets to none, then stormed back to take the next three sets and win the game. The last time the Mustangs came back to win from being down two sets was in 2015.
Moving forward, the Mustangs plan on staying consistent and hope to bring intensity to every set. All 18 players are strong and they challenge each other every day in their practices, according to Trumbo. This game-like mentality keeps them locked in for every match.
Prokic also noted that the senior class helped to set that bar high for the team’s expectations, even at practice. “We hope to leave the team with an idea of how to truly make the best of the experience,” she said, adding that she is excited to see where the team can go this season.
The Mustangs are working to win the Middle Atlantic Conference title again this year. Their larger goal is to advance to the final eight in the NCAA playoffs, in hopes of clenching a national championship.
The Mustangs play Penn State Harrisburg and Wesley College on Oct. 5, then return home on Tuesday, Oct. 8, where they host Elizabethtown College in a 7 pm match at Owings Mills gymnasium.
