Plymouth's Volleyball Team Finds Their Groove

Plymouth, N.H.- Plymouth's Woman's volleyball team continued their winning ways by following up their sweep of Rivier College by defeating UMass Dartmouth in the same fashion, three sets to none last Saturday, September 24th. The Panthers continued their victorious ways this week by also defeating Colby-Sawyer 3 sets to 1 on Tuesday, September 27th. The wins put the Panther's overall record at 7-5 and brought their league record to 1-1.

Head Coach Chris Kilmer came into both the Rivier and Dartmouth games expecting his team to beat both opponents. This attitude is typical of Kilmer, who said, "I expect us to beat everyone we play", and has said this all year long. Having this kind of attitude doesn't mean that Kilmer doesn't respect the teams (Kilmer on Rivier- "very good team"), but Kilmer just has a lot of confidence in his team despite "not really knowing the team before preseason" and not having "any real expectations" for anyone this season. The confidence from the coach comes from having players who have not only been great players on the court, but have allowed Kilmer to connect with the team much quicker. This leadership starts off with the captains up top with Alex Avery (Milton, N.H.) and Sarah Cady (Holliston, Mass.). Cady and Avery have been called "an extension of the coaching staff" by Coach Kilmer, which allowed for the communication between players and coaches to be smooth despite it being Kilmer's first year as head coach.

Cady and Avery aren't the only players who have been crucial to the Panther's play this year, as senior Danielle Stoodley (Salem, N.H.) was selected as the LEC (Little East Conference) defensive player of the week, while sophomore Allie Jones (Canton, Mass.) was named LEC offensive player of the week. Both Stoodley and Jones have played fantastic this year and were recognized for their play on Monday. Danielle Stoodley had 20 and 21 digs against Rivier and Dartmouth while Jones averaged 3.33 kills per set between both games last week. Despite being acknowledged this week, Jones and Stoodley have played phenomenal all year, with Jones ranking second in the LEC conference in service aces (at 0.53 per set) and Stoodley ranking third in the conference with 4.33 digs per set. Both of these players continued their strong play as Stoodley had 26 digs, while Jones had 12 kills against Colby-Sawyer on this past Tuesday night. Also contributing to the win against Colby-Sawyer was junior Casey Stoodley (Salem, N.H.), who had a team leading 18 kills to go along with 24 digs.

The lady Panthers appear to be starting to get into a grove this year, which spells trouble for the rest of the teams in the Little East Conference. With a nice mix of experienced upperclassman as well as some hungry sophomore and first-years, the Panthers have a great chance to not only win their conference, but also make some noise come playoff time.