Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to revise the statistics listed for the players.
The College of DuPage men’s volleyball team took on Bethel University for the second time this season on Feb. 13 in their home opener. The Chaparrals came out with energy, taking the first set from the Pilots after four set-point occurrences to lead early in the match. COD’s energy started to dip as Bethel picked up their offensive efforts, and they struggled to catch up.
After dropping two straight sets, the Chaps fought to take the Pilots to a fifth set, but couldn’t hold onto the lead. Dropping the fourth set, COD fell to Bethel 1-3 to leave their record at 3-5. The final scores for the sets were 29-27, 17-25, 21-25 and 23-25.
“On our part, we showed significant growth,” head coach Tolis Koskinaris said. “We’re still trying to find the right lineup for our guys. Overall I do see us taking steps forward in many ways, both mentally and physically just by playing the game. These are growing pains, and we just have to keep working through them.”
Sophomore left side Mike Fenley led the team with nine kills on 20 attacks with three errors. Serving, Fenley landed one service ace and made three errors. He also made six digs and jumped one solo block. Fenley said the team grew sloppy while fighting to make a comeback.
“We just lost our sense of selves and stopped working together,” he said. “We started playing as individuals and started getting lazy on defense. That’s not usually how we do it, but then again, we were in a slump. We just really wanted to beat those guys, so that could’ve taken over how we were playing today.”
Sophomore outside hitter Blake Huberty spiked four kills on 16 attacks with two errors and two service aces. Huberty also put up one block assist, made one set assist and three digs. He explained what he focused on to score points past Bethel’s blockers.
“I go in and I try to find where the blockers are,” Huberty said. “Then I just try to swing around them. They were a big team. They had very big guys, so I had to just swing over or around them as much as I could.”
This loss marked the third time the Chaparrals won the first set of the match and lost the next three straight this season. Sophomore setter Phurin Kosumapinun recorded 21 set assists, 13 digs and one solo block. Kosumapinun scored with one service ace but made four service errors. He explained where COD started to slip against Bethel and broke down the steps needed to break that pattern.
“That pattern only exists because we’re a very emotive team,” Kosumapinun said. “What this team lacks is the urgency to finish off whatever we start. The only way for us to get out of it is to put our foot on the gas. [We need to] make sure that we’re not playing passively anymore. From the second set and onward, we struggled to maintain our energy. It’s just [going to take] a lot of work and growth at this point.”
Freshman middle hitter Justus Barbel shot down five kills on 11 attacks with two errors and two service aces with three service errors. He also made two digs and one set assist. He said that although both games against the Pilots ended the same, the Chaps still improved between meetings.
“This went better than I expected,” Barbel said. “When we played this team before, we took a set off of them. We played a lot better than the last time we played them. We still had the same result, but the other sets after the won were a lot closer and a lot more competitive.”
Sophomore left side Erik Perez explained what the Chaps added to the team before the season started and how he hopes they come together.
“If we come in strong and get our passing down, at least a good sequence that’s nice and simple, we can make things work,” Perez said. “[This season] we’re taller. We’re bigger. We’ve got a lot more body mass coming in and swinging strong. Our offense is no doubt a lot better than it was last year since we have designated positions. The biggest thing is going to be whether or not we can put our offense into play, and that starts with our serve-receive.”
Koskinaris said he hopes the team doesn’t dwell on this game’s outcome and thinks forward to their next opponent.
“We played a great match overall,” he said. “Our numbers were very good. It’s just the sting of that fourth set that I hope has a very short-term effect. It’s unfortunate because we did play a very high-quality game against a very good Bethel team. A very athletic Bethel team too. It just sucks how it ended out there.”
The Chaparrals battle the North Park junior varsity Vikings at 6 p.m. on Feb. 15 in Chicago, Ill.
