The John Carroll University volleyball team came into Wednesday night's game against the College of Wooster excited to play their 2011 home opener, but left the DeCarlo Varsity Center with a collective feeling of disappointment.

The Blue Streaks struggled to hit their stride throughout the night, and fell by a 25-18, 25-17, 28-26 score to the Fighting Scots.

Box Score

Coming into their first home match of the season, the Blue Streaks sported a record of 7-2 on the season. The visiting College of Wooster Fighting Scots also came into the match with an impressive record of their own, as they were 7-1 on the season.

On this night, however, the teams were separated by the speed at which they got out of the gate..

“We got off to a slow start tonight and that's something we've been doing all year, we have just been able to get out of it before,” said head coach Cally Plummer. “Tonight, we found out that we can't continue to do that against good teams.”

Wooster went on an 11-3 run midway through the first set to build an impressive 19-8 lead. The Blue Streaks proved to be resilient though, as they went on a 10-4 run of their own and narrowed the score to 23-18 in favor of the Fighting Scots. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late for the Blue Streaks in the first set as the Fighting Scots won the set 25-18.




The second set went much the same way, and a sweep seemed imminent. Going into the third set, the Blue Streaks knew it was do-or-die time as their backs were against the wall.

Perhaps that was just the mindset John Carroll needed to have. as the Blue Streaks got off to a better start and took a 9-6 lead early in the frame. It was at that juncture that junior Jess Hammer provided what was perhaps the most impressive play of the night, as she kept the point alive by making a dive and saving the ball from hitting the floor by what seemed to be only an inch or so, allowing the Blue Streaks to win the point.

That play -- and aces off the serve of Charlotte Sykora -- sparked a run that put John Carroll out front by a 14-7 count before the Fighting Scots made a comeback attempt of their own.

With John Carroll ahead 22-19 and the possibility of a fourth set in the balance, Wooster broke away by scoring nine of the final 13 points and closed out the match.

“We didn't (respond to the challenge tonight)," said Plummer. "Our middles performed well, but we came out flat and not ready to compete,” said Coach Plummer. “We can't just simply show up and take it easy because we're the home team.”

Sykora had an impressive night for the Blue Streaks, playing well from start to finish as she recorded six kills and five aces on the night.

“I don't think we played to our full potential at all,” said Sykora. “We need to come out and play much better in our opening set next time.”