You kind of have to let it go by the time you’re in the locker room getting ready for your game. – Carly Trueman
SALT LAKE CITY — Carly Trueman knows that she can’t change how she played in Utah’s Friday night loss to Oregon.
But that doesn’t stop it from nagging at her, even as she and the No. 15 Utes prepared to play Oregon State Saturday night.
“There is so much you need to learn from a game,” said Trueman, who led the Utes with 13 kills in their sweep of Oregon State 27-25, 25-16, 26-17. “But you can’t be thinking through it during the next game. You kind of have to let it go by the time you’re in the locker room getting ready for your game. Instead of thinking about what I need to learn from how I played (yesterday), I have to learn what do I need to do in this game to win.”
That, however, is easier said than done.
“Personally, I started off timid,” the outside hitter said. “I was swinging a little bit, like ‘Let’s keep the balls in play.’ I feel like I made a lot of errors last night, but after I got a couple of kills, you start rolling.”
Utah coach Beth Launiere said it was critical that the Utes respond the way they did after such a disappointing start against Oregon on Friday where they dropped the first two sets, battled back, but eventually lost the match.
“I thought we responded well tonight,” she said Saturday. “Because the whole group was pretty upset with what happened in the first two sets yesterday. … I think it was nagging at everyone, and they came out much more prepared tonight. Everyone did a really nice job tonight.”
Launiere was concerned about the Beavers’ defense, which proved to be just as impressive as she thought it would be.
“We were taking some rips that just wouldn’t go down,” she said. “Everybody in the Pac-12 is good. There are just not bad teams. Some of the kills we were getting in preseason, they’re not going down. So we have to figure out a way to get better.”
The first set was the most challenging for Utah, as Oregon State, which doesn’t have a conference win, had set point 24-22. Trueman delivered a kill that tied the game, and then she hit a ball out that gave OSU set point again.
A net call tied the game, and then middle Tawnee Luafalemana, who finished with eight kills, blocked a hit for the set win.
Launiere praised senior Adora Anae’s leadership, the work of the setters and the effort of the entire team. Anae added 11 kills. Dani Barton had five block assists and Berkeley Oblad added six blocks and nine kills.
“I wasn’t happy about yesterday,” Launiere said. “I was happy about the response (in the final three sets), but the way we showed up for a big match just wasn’t acceptable. The preparation wasn’t good. We have to be mature in our preparations, and you have to be consistent in the Pac-12. You have to prepare consistently.” Setter Bailey Choy, who finished with 29 assists, said the players made it a point to improve their pre-game preparation Saturday night.
“We made it an absolute point to make sure we had a better warmup,” she said, “and our mentality just shifted. We don’t want to have those kinds of things to happen in order for us to play like this. It was eye-opening.”
In fact, she said the team is talking about how it learns lessons it needs without learning them the hard way.
“We are talking constantly, giving each other verbal reminders, and we’re not going to let it happen again,” she said. “We don’t want to be put in the position in the first place (needing to mount a comeback), and I feel like our energy was much better than yesterday.” Trueman said it was trusting her teammates that allowed her to play with the kind of courage necessary to make big plays at big moments. She also said consistency will come with each opportunity to prove themselves.
“I think it’s every game,” she said. “You have to keep proving yourself. It’s not like, ‘OK, now we’re a good team.’ I know it’s said a lot, but every game is a big game, and it’s not like we can take it easy. Every single time you have to come out 100 percent or you’re not going to get it.”