Season-opening tournaments are all out of momentum

While they may seem like no more than a pair of small dots on the radar screen that is the Panthers’ long season, the two volleyball tournaments Eastern plays to open this year’s season are crucial.

Playing well in those tournaments creates momentum, and in volleyball momentum is extremely important.

A team that takes a lead early in the game is more than likely to hold on to that lead throughout the remainder of the game. Momentum throughout the course of a season is also important, not necessarily in terms of wins and losses, but on a smaller scale.

A small momentum swing can give a team a lead, giving that team the win in that game and ultimately the match. A string of wins to start the season could put the Panthers on target for an Ohio Valley Conference title.

Not that failure to perform at the Nanook Classic in Alaska this weekend and last weekend’s second place finish in the Super 8/Pepsi Invite will ruin the team’s season, but it’s difficult to regain momentum once it’s gone.

But aside from momentum, tournaments provide experiences thatz soon won’t be forgotten.

“It’s a chance for them to see a different environment,” Eastern head volleyball coach Brenda Winkeler said last week. “They’ll get to play in different surroundings.”

Outside of spring break, college students don’t get a chance to venture outside of the state, and even outside of the county.

And while the main focus is to play volleyball, the players will get a chance to be tourists as well, snapping pictures before snapping blocks and kills in the crisp cool air of the Klondike.

It’ll be good for the Panthers to cool off before things heat up in the OVC season.

And instead of playing the Chicago State and Western Illinois-type teams of the local volleyball world in non-conference action, Eastern will play against the U.S. Naval Academy, University of Maine and Alaska-Fairbanks in the tourney.

To gain momentum early in the season, tough competition is needed. With a 6-7 start in games played against three tough schools – Wright State (3-0), Central Michigan (1-2) and Montana (1-2), Eastern is on its way to establishing itself as a powerful team.

The Panthers have high expectations, as most of the players on the squad have set goals to win the conference title and an NCAA tournament bid.

But without momentum to carry the team, those expectations carry about as much weight as the air in the volleyball.

So what may seem like just another tournament in some far away place with teams that few have heard of, is more important.

Direct hits in sinking the Navy, Alaska-Fairbanks and Maine will make OVC foes Southeastern Missouri State and Tennessee-Martin that much easier to target. It’s all about momentum.