Like a tale of 3 fortunes; joy, hope and frustration
by Donald Smith
The Metropolitan
I guess you could call this a numbers game, because over the weekend, the Metro women's soccer team went 2-0; the men's team went 1-1 and the 'Runners volleyball team went 0-2.
The women's soccer team is now back in the hunt for the No. 1 spot; the men's soccer team is looking to recover from the 4-2 loss they received from No. 17 Fort Lewis and the volleyball team is just looking to play longer than three games (or at least-if there is a sweep--not being the victims of it).
Volleyball
(3-7 overall, 0-2 RMAC)
This team is gone from the Top 25 poll. Their schedule has not been kind to them at all after playing and being swept by their last five Top 25 opponents (No. 14 North Alabama, No. 11 Central Missouri State, No. 17 Augustana, No. 1 Neb.-Kearney and No. 15 Fort Hays State). This team might have been beaten up since Sept. 3, but hopefully playing the unranked Colorado Christian Cougars and Chadron State Eagles will put some "W's" in the win column and some confidence in the young squad.
No. 9 Women's Soccer
(5-1 overall, 3-0-0 RMAC)
Sadly for conference foes, the 'Runners women didn't fall into depression after losing to Cal State-Bakersfield 2-0, because they returned to conference play and put the boot to both New Mexico Highlands 4-1 and Adams State 3-0.
In the game against Adams State, Kylee Hanavan used her foot for assisting, elevating two beautiful corner kicks to two of Metro's most dominating defenders Elin Otter and Meisha Pyke in the first six minutes of the game to make certain her squad would remain undefeated in conference play.
Although it's always great to be dominant, I wonder if this Metro team can remain sharp, because they may not see another ranked opponent until the regional playoffs. So again, this team looks like they'll go undefeated in the conference.
Men's Soccer
(3-1-0 overall, 1-1-0 RMAC)
Although these guys are no longer undefeated, they are still right where they want to be: in the thick of things. If they can win their next two games on the road against regional and conference foes Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Christian, they could see themselves in the hunt for not only one of the top three conference spots, but also the top three regional spots.
The fall sports teams are kind of like a tale of three fortunes: as women's soccer is enjoying good fortune, men's soccer is seeing their fortunes take a turn for the better and volleyball is seeing their once-good fortune take a turn for the worse. Hopefully, for all of these teams, their fortunes will become great ones come the post season.
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