Mike Martinez — Staff Writer

With just five games remaining on schedule, Dordt women’s volleyball is nearing the end of conference play. Dordt currently holds a 15-8 overall season record, while sitting at 6-5 in conference play. Though the 2018 team finished their season with a perfect 16-0 conference record, Dordt lost six players at the end of last season.

Junior Erica Bousema played a total of 70 games coming into this season.

“It’s just different this year because of how many seniors we lost,” Erica said. “People, including myself, have had to step into new roles. We’ve had some ups and downs throughout the season, but we will continue to bounce back.”

This season, Dordt hasn’t had more than two consecutive losses all year. In their last two outings, they lost a close match to Northwestern and lost to Concordia University, Nebraska on the road. But, if history continues to repeat itself, they will likely bounce back for their next match.

Emily Feilmeier, one of only two seniors on this year’s roster, has also noticed some serious changes since last season. The seniors from last year’s team were talented players, but they were also great vocal leaders. Once they graduated, Feilmeier had to step in and become a better, more vocal leader.

“Last year we graduated a lot of seniors, so leadership changes had to be made,” Feilmeier said. “Not only do us seniors need to lead this team, but we have to call on our underclassmen to fit the role as well.”

Freshman Emma Bousema is looking to fill that gap. Emma is a 2018 graduate from Western Christian High School, a volleyball program that won the State Championship during her senior campaign. Going from a successful high school team to a successful college team, Emma is used to winning seasons, but she too has faced challenges.

“It’s a lot faster pace, and I’ve had to bond with people that I’ve never played with,” Emma said. “Not only that, the coaching is a lot different. In college, it’s a lot more technical, mainly focusing on all the details.

Though Dordt women’s volleyball has gone through some restructuring, they still have high hopes for the rest of the season. Sitting at fourth in the conference standings, they can still move up depending on how these last five games go.

“I want our season to keep moving upward from here. I don’t want us to look at any negatives from the past,” Emma said. “From here on out, we’re going to treat every game as if it’s our last.”

Emma also plans to keep fighting through the end of the season.

“I believe we can go into the GPAC tournament and win the championship,” Emma said. “If we can win the GPAC championship, it’s an automatic bid to nationals.”

The Dordt University women’s volleyball team will resume play on Wednesday, October 23^rd, against Morningside College.