Win Streak Gets Women’s Volleyball Back On Track

Following the 2022 Atlantic-10 championship game Nov. 20, the Loyola Ramblers were A-10 women’s volleyball champions for the very first time. At the start of the 2023-24 season, the Ramblers were ranked No. 1 in the A-10’s preseason poll. 

Despite the momentum from last year’s conference title, the Ramblers struggled in pre-conference play. After playing well against high-quality competition in their first tournaments, the Ramblers went on a stretch of 10 consecutive losses. 

Head coach Amanda Berkley said the tougher opponents the team faced in pre-conference play were selected, in part, because of the challenge she knew it would bring the team. By playing stiff competition — some nationally ranked by the American Volleyball Coaches Association — Berkley was able to recognize the team’s weaknesses and address them before going into conference play.

“It was very tough scheduling, and I think it definitely showed us that we need to play cleaner, we have to limit errors, and we’ve got to just be disciplined defensively,” Berkley said. “Also, we need to get some younger people ready to go. The state of the game is just so much faster and so we just needed to try to get our younger players ready to go right away.”

The team also faced several injuries to key players, forcing them to regroup prior to the start of pre-conference play. 

Fifth-year middle blocker Taylor Venuto suffered a knee injury that prevented her from participating in most pre-conference matches. She became available in time for conference play, starting with the University of Dayton Flyers in games the Ramblers lost 3-1 and 3-0. 

It was challenging to come back from her knee injury, specifically noting the challenge of dealing with the pain — something she said was eased by the support of her teammates and coaches, Venuto wrote in an email to The Phoenix.

Aside from her injury, Ventuo wrote that rejoining the team in the midst of the rough patch was manageable, as she had complete faith in the teams’ skills and determination to win any game they played. In the games she had to sit out, she still saw her team giving their full effort despite playing against tougher opponents, Venuto wrote.

“We maintained our intensity,” Venuto wrote. “We hyped up in the locker room, entered warm-ups with high energy and gave it our all during the games, focusing on every point.”

After seeing unfavorable results early on, Venuto wrote that Berkley and the team were only more determined to fix any gaps in their game before the start of conference play. 

Fourth-year outside hitter Karlie McNabb said Berkley gave the team a much needed extra push in practices during the losing streak. While being tough on the team, McNabb said Berkley also highlighted the importance of slowing down and taking a breath once in a while, telling the team they play their best when they’re relaxed and having fun. 

Following the Sept. 29 game against Davidson College, Loyola’s luck seemed to change. The Ramblers won 3-2 and went on to win their next five games in straight sets. Despite how quickly things turned around following the trip to North Carolina, Berkley said the streak-breaking win was hard fought. 

“We had to fight a little bit to get that win under our belt and I think we just diversified the offense a little bit and we just started to play together,” Berkley said. “I think we just played a little bit more determined and more like ourselves. I think once we got the first win then we kind of were like, ‘Okay we know how to do this, we’re good enough, we can win.’”

McNabb said one key to the Rambler comeback was the team’s commitment to maintain the chemistry they’ve built together, even while they were going through a rough patch.

“Nobody likes to lose but I think we have a really good group of girls, really good chemistry to help us get through,” McNabb said. “We had some really good talks, we started to plan a lot of more team things outside of volleyball just to like, you know, keep the team chemistry high even when we were going through it a little bit and I think that really helped moving forward into conference and has resulted obviously in some more wins for us.”

Venuto said the losing streak only fueled the team’s determination to end the slide and start winning games again. She said the team started showing up early to practice to make sure they were warmed up enough to give their all during practice drills. After practice, the team would focus on their weightlifting, doing anything they can to improve themselves for games. 

Following these efforts, the Ramblers have started a new streak. This time, the streak consists of ten straight wins. With these wins, the team has climbed to second in the conference with a conference record of 9-2.

As for the remainder of the season, the Ramblers look forward to the conference tournament with high hopes. The A-10 tournament is slated to begin Nov. 17 in Davidson, North Carolina. McNabb said the team plans to keep their momentum going as the tournament approaches by continuing to work hard in every practice. 

“I think I feel really good,” McNabb said. “I think the team feels really good and we’re just excited to get to that point. We’re definitely leaving that losing streak from the beginning of the season in the past and just moving forward.”

Venuto also has high hopes for this postseason, especially for her last year as a Rambler.

“I’ve cherished every moment here, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the A-10 tournament,” Venuto wrote. “I have complete confidence in our team’s abilities and can’t wait to see it unfold.”

Featured image by Aidan Cahill | The Phoenix