Gators hope win adds to experience

The Gators rolled over Holy Names College at home Tuesday night, led by sophomore Dana Steigerwald with 19 kills and freshman Jen Klimek with 14 assists.

Pam Rigor said a match against a team like Holy Names, which was on the losing side of the 3-0 (15-3, 15-7, 15-4) score, allows the Gators to be more aggressive and to work on complicated plays.

"It's physically and mentally a great game for us," she said. "It's a chance to work on everything we do in practice. It lets us work on different hitting strategies and makes our plays stronger."

Head coach Kathy Argo agreed, adding that the match was good preparation for conference games.

"One of our goals for the match was to do some combination plays, and we had a fair number of opportunities to do that. You try to take the focus off winning and losing."

Argo said SF State faced Holy Names in a tournament early in the season, so the Gators kept specific strategies in mind against the Hawks.

"They were a much improved team, even though the score wasn't indicative," Argo said.

Holy Names head coach Scott Bishop said his team just wasn't there mentally.

"We were only going through the motions," he said, addressing the team. "You have to do it because you want to, not just to go out and do it."

The Gators are hoping this match will spark a winning streak this week, which includes matches against Chico State and Menlo College.

"Our ultimate goal is to go 3-0 this week," Argo said. That would even the conference record to 2-2, and inch closer to making the overall record even.

With the win against Holy Names, the Gators move to 9-13 overall and remain at 1-2 in conference play.

According to Argo, the conference championship is up for grabs this season.

"Ever since I can remember, one or two teams have dominated, and the rest were playing for third and fourth. The last couple of years, that hasn't been the case. We go in having a real chance to win against every conference team."

In the last two years, the Gators have taken Chico to five games in every single match, despite winning only once.

Argo said there is no reason to believe the matches will be any less intense this year, and Rigor said the games against Holy Names really help prepare the team for more competitive play.

"It's a matter of who comes out and really wants it," Rigor said. "Everybody had a really aggressive attitude on the court, and that shows. We just need to stay mentally stronger."

The Gators will face Chico Friday in the main gym at SF State, with first serve at 7 p.m. The team plays at Menlo College Saturday night.

[ Golden Gater Online October 5, 1995 ]

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