On Wednesday night, the Waynesburg University volleyball team lost to Bethany College in three sets 3-0, the fifth consecutive game Waynesburg has been swept.

Waynesburg lost by a total of four points in the first two sets, then lost by seven in the third set. Bethany only outscored Waynesburg by a total of nine points and out-killed the Yellow Jackets by two. 

Junior Kristina Zadrozny led Waynesburg with nine kills along with two assists. Zadrozny believed despite the sweep, the team still had positives towards the game. 

“Today we had very good energy, I feel like you could really tell that everyone was playing for each other,” Zadrozny said. “However I think we need to find a way to keep the energy and finish the last few points of the set, especially when they were as close as they were tonight.”

The Yellow Jackets have lost five sets in their last four games by two or three points. Zadrozny said there needs to be more confidence in those close situations. 

“I think we just need to be confident and trust each other,” Zadrozny said. “A lot of the time we are being timid when the scores get close, especially past 20.”

In the second set, Waynesburg had two-five point leads. The Yellow Jackets were up 10-5, however the Bison were able to quickly tie up the second set at 11-11. Then, Waynesburg was up 17-12, and Bethany again tied the set up again at 18. Waynesburg even had a three point lead (23-20), but the Bison tied the set at 24 and took the final two points to claim the second set. 

Freshman Mallory Boyd racked up eight kills and five digs while junior transfer Audrey Work had four kills and three digs in the evening. Boyd and Work are two of the 14 newest players to join the volleyball team this year. Both are in the top ten on the team in kills, points, and top five in blocks. Both players look to continue to grow and develop in their roles at Waynesburg. 

“A lot of my success on the court comes from Coach Hope and the older players that have helped me adjust to this new level of play,” Boyd said. “ I’m really excited for the rest of the season. I feel like as a team we are growing more and more every game and I can’t wait to continue to build as a team and grow as a player.”

“I was a middle hitter my entire career before college; then at La Roche, my coaches trained me as an outside/right side dynamic hitter. I have a lot of in-game experience in all positions, so, at Waynesburg, I’m ready to step up to be whatever the team needs, whether that be as a middle or pin hitter,” Work said. 

Boyd and Work both said the same thing when looking towards the solution of losing close games: fixing the small errors. 

“Dedicating practice time to working on fixing small errors that occurred in the game and using the tough losses as motivation to push ourselves to the next game,” Boyd said. 

The Yellow Jackets get back into action on Saturday when they host Grove City and La Roche at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse for a tri-match. Waynesburg is scheduled to face off against Grove City at 11 a.m. then La Roche at 3 p.m. 

For Work, she spent the first two years of her athletic career at La Roche. Work said she’s just excited to see her old team. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing my old teammates,” Work said, “ I miss them so much and want to catch up! Also, we played against La Roche during preseason at a tournament, so I’m also excited to play them again with a more developed lineup.”