NOVA freshman Rachel Barfield attempts a block on a Potomac State College at the net

The NOVA women’s volleyball team traveled to Frederick on Sept. 30 to again face the Frederick Community College team, which they had earlier beaten in the season-opening tournament by taking three of four sets. This time the team improved on that performance by winning the match in three straight sets, 25-19, 25-11 and 25-16.

With the win, NOVA went to 8-5 for the year, while Frederick dropped to 0-12.

Next came a highly anticipated home rematch at Annandale on October 7 versus the powerhouse Potomac State College squad. NOVA had dropped a previous match against them at their home site in Keyser, but had shown good improvement since and were looking forward to seeing how much they had progressed.

A good crowd was on hand for the 7 p.m. start, but Potomac was dominant in the first set, winning 25-13.

NOVA pulled together in the next two sets as coach Marcus Robinson acknowledged that “they played better,” but were not quite able to extend the match, losing by identical scores of 25-21. Afterwards, much of the crowd stayed around in Ernst Gym to greet the NOVA players.

For the year, NOVA is now 8-6 while Potomac State improved to 16-3.

The team will be playing on the road before returning on Nov. 3 for their final game and final home game versus Hagerstown Community College at 7 p.m. at Annandale campus.

By: Arch Scurlock

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