The Wayne State College Volleyball team traveled to Colorado last weekend to compete in the Colorado Premier Volleyball tournament with some of the most talented teams in the country.
At the Colorado Premier, the team went 2-2 losing their first games of the season. The Wildcats were swept by #13 Chaminade in their first game Friday afternoon.
That night, WSC played Wheeling and swept them. The next day, WSC played a closely fought match against Dallas Baptist University. The Cats were up 2-1 in sets, but DBU had a late rally that led them to the win over WSC.
In their final game of the tournament, WSC swept Regis in three sets.
WSC freshman Molly Romano is the starting setter for the Wildcats. She has now played the first eight games of her college career, and this was her first Colorado Premier tournament.
“Going into this weekend, we knew we would find some good competition,” Romano said. “That’s exactly why we go to a tournament like that. Although we had two losses, there are always chances to learn from those games which I think were our biggest takeaways from the weekend.
“I would say our mindset coming off of the weekend is a sense of eagerness to get back in the gym and work on our game,” Romano said.
Romano had some big shoes to fill, taking over for Rachel Walker who was a four-year starter for the Wildcats. Romano says she tries to be a young leader on the team by looking for ways to put her teammates in the best position possible for success.
“Whether it be extra communication over set placement or encouragement of a teammate, I try to find ways to build the energy and communication on our side of the net so we can flow as one unit,” she said.
Even though she’s just starting her time as part of a college team, Romano has found her home here at Wayne.
“I feel honored and privileged to be a Cat,” Romano said. “Although there has not been a home game, I still feel all the support from our fan base which makes being in the Wildcat community so awesome.”
Moving past this weekend, the team looks toward conference play.
“The next steps will be fine-tuning the little details and working to develop a flow of the game that works the best for us,” Romano said.
The Wildcats will be on the road this weekend traveling to MSU Moorhead Friday evening and Norther State Saturday afternoon.
