At some points during this season, Homewood-Flossmoor volleyball has been a little flat.
The Vikings are a capable team, playing long stretches of good volleyball against some of the best teams in the area. At others, they struggle to play together and stay focused.
“That’s something we’ve seen, something we’ve talked to the team about,” coach Nate Nesbit said. “It’s just a matter of needing to turn it on and keep it on and that’s something we’re still working on in practice.”
That much was clear during an Oct. 21 SouthWest Suburban conference loss to Lincoln-Way East. The Griffins (26-8, 8-0) finished the conference slate undefeated with a 25-18, 25-18 win at H-F.
The teams were nearly deadlocked for much of both sets. A 16-16 first set saw LWE take seven of the next nine points. The second set was tied six times early and the difference was only two for almost the duration. Then the Griffins won the last eight.
“We’re struggling to not play perfect volleyball,” Nesbit said. “When we’re clicking and playing at the level everybody wants us to be playing at, everything works like a machine. As soon as you have that little mistake, a pass that’s not where we expected it to be, a set that’s not where we expected it to be, a hitting mistake, it just leads to more mistakes.”
Senior Ihuoma Ozoh was a bright spot for the Vikings (16-16, 5-3), playing well at the net and notching a couple impressive kills. The Clemson commit said H-F feels like it’s better than its .500 record. H-F beat a talented Lincoln-Way West team 19-25, 25-19, 25-17 on Oct. 16.
“It’s been on and off but as we go against better teams, we need to realize that a little bit better isn’t going to be enough. We need to be on every time,” Ozoh said. “If there’s a mistake, whether it’s a forced error or unforced, that’s going to happen each game but we lie on those things too much and it just causes a spiral that gets the other team a run.”
The Vikings have been a streaky team all season. They won five straight early in the season, lost four in a row twice and went into the final regular season matchup with a 16-16 record.
“We have flashes where we are a very, very good, competitive team and flashes when we don’t have that consistent life, that consistent flame that we’re hoping for,” Nesbit said. “You can see it on the court. There’s body language. The team doesn’t come together.”
Ozoh knows there isn’t a lot of time to right the ship before her senior season is over.
The postseason begins with the regional Oct. 28 at St. Laurence. H-F is seeded fourth in the Rich Township sectional.
“We know what we can do. We’ve seen what we can do in those games when we actually focus,” Ozoh said. “We really needed to be committed to it. Every team has their problems but (lack of focus) is really the main one that has stopped us from winning these games.”
