The Oswego State volleyball season is underway and the Lakers are looking to build off a successful 2018 campaign. They made the SUNYAC playoffs but fell in the semi-finals to SUNY New Paltz. Last weekend they got off to a hot start, winning all three games at the Elms College Invitational and are looking to continue that success.
The Lakers won all their games in convincing fashion with two shutouts of 3-0. In their final game against Elms College, they won by a score of three sets to one. Melissa Lussier led the way with 31 total points while Shauna O’Flaherty and Lauren Fie had 26.5 points and 24.5 points of their own. Although it is early in the season, the Lakers were impressive.
“We did a really good job of coming out strong given it was our first weekend and we didn’t really know what to expect,” Lussier said. “We really put it all out on the court and I think our chemistry was really good.”
The Lakers finished strong last season winning four of their last six games to reach the SUNYAC playoffs as the sixth seed. They went to defeat The College at Brockport by a score of 3-2 in the first round of the tournament. Eventually, the Lakers fell to SUNY New Paltz in the semi-finals.
The Lakers were not satisfied with their second round exit.
“Heading in [to the SUNYAC tournament], I thought we had a chance at the conference championship,” Head coach J.J. O’Connell said. “That is ultimately what I like, is a team that is willing to compete and win a championship. And I felt like last year’s team as well as this year’s team can both do that.”
The Lakers finished with a 19-14 record last season but went just 4-5 in conference play. Despite this, they were able to upset the Golden Eagles when it mattered most, even though the Lakers fell to them just 10 days prior.
Oswego State is still confident it can excel this season.
“ I know we could have won last year,” Julia Flohr said. “Everyone kind of thinks we can’t win this year, so I think we are just looking to prove everyone wrong.”
There is no denying that it is hard to win a playoff or tournament as a sixth seed. The fact is that SUNY New Paltz was really good last year, going 27-8 overall and 8-1 in the conference before going on to win the SUNYAC conference. Now The Lakers know what it is like to be there. They brought back five seniors this season who played in the tournament last year and that experience is crucial for a young team.
“We know what the atmosphere is like,” O’Flaherty said. “A lot of our returning players are back, and we have a lot of starting players that played last year, so I think we all have a lot of chemistry and we all want to win.”
The Lakers will not start SUNYAC play until Tuesday, Sept. 17 when they take on SUNY Cortland in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. This could be an advantage for them, as non-conference games give them a chance to find themselves as a team. It enables O’Connell to toy with different lineups and see who works best in different scenarios. They are off to a great start at 3-0, winning an invitational and only losing one set in the process. They have a lot of momentum and should be ready when conference play starts.
“I think we know we really have to push during these [non-conference] games,” Lussier said. “Even if they are not SUNYAC games, this is our chance to get the team chemistry together and get all the kinks out before we actually have to play in conference.”
The Oswegonian file photo from 2018
