Spring Break
The Daily OrangeVB | Cobbina's energy gives weekend-long spark
By Jesse Caputo
Posted: 10/22/07, 1:07 AM EST Section: Sports
As the Syracuse women's volleyball team makes its final push for the Big East Championship, Cheryl Cobbina stepped up Saturday to help the Orange clinch a much needed Big East win.
In Saturday's match against Big East foe Marquette, Syracuse held a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth game. After letting Marquette hang around, the game's score ran to 29-29. Sarah Morton killed a hanger left up by the Golden Eagles, and SU pulled ahead 30-29. On the next volley, April Quigley set a ball high to the outside for Cobbina. She knocked it down between two Marquette blockers to clinch the game and win the match for the Orange.
"Cheryl steps up to the plate when we're in need," assistant coach Carol LaMarche said. "She's a go-to player, and it's not surprising when we needed some points that she was the one that was giving them to us."
One of the keys Syracuse came into the game looking for was positive energy throughout the weekend. In the past, the team has struggled with this and fallen into slumps that cost SU games and or even matches.
Cobbina helped keep the energy going all weekend with her patented move. If Cobbina is locked into the game, after a big play by herself or someone else, she'll jump high in the air and point her fingers to the sky. LaMarche knows when Cobbina does that, she's on target for the match. Cobbina was seen doing just that several times over the weekend.
"(The team's enthusiasm) was big," Cobbina said. "We wanted to keep our energy up and feed off of everyone else. So even if we weren't excited, you have to look at everyone else and get your head in it, play with emotion and get excited about the game."
Cobbina helped the cause on defense as well. The Orange players seemed to leave the ground a lot over the course of the two games, diving for a large number of balls. They worked on defense a lot this week, said senior Joscie Kaup, and she was happy to see it pay off.
With Syracuse looking to increase its lead over the Golden Eagles late in the first game Saturday, Cobbina made a diving dig toward the line. The ball was then set up by Quigley and planted on the other side by Kacie MacTavish for the point.
In Saturday's match against Big East foe Marquette, Syracuse held a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth game. After letting Marquette hang around, the game's score ran to 29-29. Sarah Morton killed a hanger left up by the Golden Eagles, and SU pulled ahead 30-29. On the next volley, April Quigley set a ball high to the outside for Cobbina. She knocked it down between two Marquette blockers to clinch the game and win the match for the Orange.
"Cheryl steps up to the plate when we're in need," assistant coach Carol LaMarche said. "She's a go-to player, and it's not surprising when we needed some points that she was the one that was giving them to us."
One of the keys Syracuse came into the game looking for was positive energy throughout the weekend. In the past, the team has struggled with this and fallen into slumps that cost SU games and or even matches.
Cobbina helped keep the energy going all weekend with her patented move. If Cobbina is locked into the game, after a big play by herself or someone else, she'll jump high in the air and point her fingers to the sky. LaMarche knows when Cobbina does that, she's on target for the match. Cobbina was seen doing just that several times over the weekend.
"(The team's enthusiasm) was big," Cobbina said. "We wanted to keep our energy up and feed off of everyone else. So even if we weren't excited, you have to look at everyone else and get your head in it, play with emotion and get excited about the game."
Cobbina helped the cause on defense as well. The Orange players seemed to leave the ground a lot over the course of the two games, diving for a large number of balls. They worked on defense a lot this week, said senior Joscie Kaup, and she was happy to see it pay off.
With Syracuse looking to increase its lead over the Golden Eagles late in the first game Saturday, Cobbina made a diving dig toward the line. The ball was then set up by Quigley and planted on the other side by Kacie MacTavish for the point.
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