MUNCIE, Ind.— The Cardinals continued their season on Jan. 24 as they took on the Maryville Saints at home in Worthen Arena. Although the Cards work well as a unit, there is still room for standout performances.
Such happened for two players: Collegiate National Team member Patrick Rogers, and stand-out senior Tinaishe Ndavazocheva.
Rogers continued to dominate the competition as he tallied nine kills and three blocks. This performance puts his season total up to 75 kills and 16 blocks.
“Preparation and practice is really important for us. We need to stay motivated in practice because everything we do there translates to the game,” Rogers explained.
Adding to his already incredible season, Rodgers was selected for the U21 Beach Volleyball National Team for the United States.
Rogers commented on his selection for the National Team saying, “It’s awesome, it’s such a good honor and I’m blessed to be in that position and I love to do it.”
A perfect compliment to the performance of Rodgers was the performance of his teammate, Ndavazocheva.
The senior from Zimbabwe tied his season high of 14 kills and 4 aces in just three sets. The only other match this season where Ndavazocheva amassed 14 kills was in the Cardinals matchup against BYU.
Despite playing an unranked opponent in the Saints, the outside hitter knew that the team could not lose focus.
“There was an opportunity for us to let off a little bit, but that was my focus to not play to their standards and just play our volleyball,” Ndavazocheva said.
Winning is in this program's DNA, and after back-to-back wins, Ndavazocheva is not yet ready to let off the gas ahead of their next matchup versus Tusculum University.
Contact Stephen Grata with comments at stephen.grata@bsu.edu.
