Lake Larsen | Sports Editor
Hopes were high for the Wolves coming into their final home game of the season. The season had been a rough road for Western as they had only found themselves in the winning column six times of their 23 games so far. Despite this, the Wolves looked to put on a show at home for the departing seniors.
Before the matches began, each of the leaving players were honored with a few gifts and words spoken about their athletic achievements at the school and hopes for the future. One of the players playing their last game in Monmouth was junior psychology major Morgan Haskett.
“Since I had just decided to graduate in three years, I feel pretty (bittersweet) about the whole situation. I’m pretty excited to be done with college and move onto bigger things, but I am so in love with so many aspects of the sport… so that’s going to be pretty tough to leave,” said Haskett.
The first match was utter dominance for the Wolves. Jumping out to a 3 point lead, Western looked unstoppable. University of Alaska Fairbanks trailed the entire first match. The Nanooks needed to take a couple of timeouts to attempt to slow the raging momentum of the Wolves, but this was to no avail.
After a dominating win in the first match, the Wolves momentum seemed to immediately die. The Nanooks took control of Western and led the entirety of the second match. Alaska Fairbanks warded off several comeback attempts and won the second match with ease.
The Wolves never saw themselves back on top for the rest of their matches. The Nanooks controlled Western’s offense and tore their defense apart.
“We started really strong and I just don’t think we played mentally tough enough to get the win that day,” said Haskett.
The Wolves continued fighting to tie up the score, but despite their best efforts they couldn’t get back into any of the matches.
While this isn’t the end the seniors were looking for, many will miss playing in Monmouth.
“I’ll miss playing at a place where a lot of my family and friends were able to come watch, they’ve been such a big part of my volleyball career,” said Haskett.
After this loss, the season looked to be over for the Wolves. Mathematically, Western stands a chance to make the postseason tournament. However, making the tournament would rely on other teams dropping matches; meaning, the postseason hopes of Western is not in their hands.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis
