First Impressions

Well my first weekend with the DePaul team was a good one. They opened Big East play at 1-1 overall and won 5 of their 10 sets for the weekend. They easily could have gone 2-0 and showed signs of being a great team.

Katie Gamsky is the facilitator of the offense as the team's setter. She did a great job of getting the ball where it needed to be both days.

A great set first requires a good first pass. Junior Libero Kelsey Bowler did plenty of that in the match against Georgetown. As a whole the team passed well over the weekend, only for brief stretches against Villanova did the team struggle on the serve receive and with their passes. It wasn't anything major, but it was enough to keep them from going 2-0 over the weekend.

The blocks were also a big factor for the Blue Demons. Shutava, Rizzo, and Blasi were great on the block and a caused many problems for the Hoyas on Sunday.

Perhaps the biggest thing to take away from the first weekend of Big East play was that DePaul has a superstar in the making in freshman Amy Lanski. She has 33 kills in the two matches combined and was a consistent force for the team. Her approach and hit is fundamental and very hard to stop. Just ask the Nova team that gave up 22 kills to her.

All in all there was a lot to like about the Blue Demon's opening weekend of conference play. The team improved from Saturday to Sunday and pulled out their first conference victory. If the team can continue to improve and make adjustments as the season progresses, they'll be a dangerous team moving forward.

I'm excited to see how this weekends performance builds towards another two home matches this coming weekend.

Go Blue Demons!

-Alex