Though the Cougars had a 0-3 showing at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup, head coach Kaddie Platt wore an expression of reflective calm — a far cry from the frustration that normally accompanies a coach after a loss.
Her lack of panic could be attributed to the tournament’s closing game, which saw her squad push Baylor to the five sets.
Freshman outside hitter Sarita Mikals made the all-tournament team, and medical redshirt sophomore Kadi Kullerkann returned after missing the previous season. While the team stands at 7-7, the losses are non-conference and, in Platt’s view, are tuneups and teaching tools.
“I thought we showed improvement throughout the weekend,” Platt said. “They really battled from one game to the next, and I thought we got a little better after every game. Our opponents were very good, but I definitely think that we improved throughout the weekend.”
After being swept by North Texas on Friday, then falling 3-1 to LSU on Saturday, things went better a few hours later against Baylor. The back-and-forth match saw four different Cougars put up double figures in kills, 60 for the match, and three service aces.
Freshman Sarita Mikals was the team leader in kills. She also put her 10th double-figure match of the season with 18 points and 18.5 kills. Mikals was named to the All-Tournament team.
“It’s an honor,” Mikals said, “but it comes with teamwork. I’d be nowhere without the team. I guess the whole team should take part in the award; I did it because of them.”
Another bright spot for the Cougars was the return of Kullerkann, who had 14 kills, including one that clinched the fourth set. Tournament viewers saw Kullerkann’s first home appearance since her season-ending knee injury last year.
“Being able to be back on the court and actually give to the team and play out there is all I really wanted the whole year,” Kullerkann said.
Platt said she thinks highly of Kullerkann’s presence on the team.
“She has that kind of impact all the time,” Platt said. “She’s just a great competitor, and we expect that out of her.”
With the preseason tournaments behind them, the team now looks forward to the start of conference play with a Friday trip at Rutgers, followed by a contest at UConn two days later.
Platt said she likes the layoff between games because they can fix any deficiencies with the team.
“They’re excited and ready. It gets a little simpler because you don’t have three or four games over two days. Now we can really work on what we need to do,” Platt said. “I think that they are very good at taking things one day at a time and working through that. They’re grinders.”
