By James Howey
Sports editor
After dispatching of Hesston Wednesday night, the Cavaliers move on to another tournament that will give the squad some good tests. The Cavs will play in the Parkland tournament this weekend against three ranked teams. The Cavs moved up to third in the nation, and seeing if the Cavs can keep up this dominance of sweeping on all their victories will be interesting.
“I think every team is getting better, so the competition in itself is getting harder,” head coach Jennifer Ei said. “I think a lot of other people put more invested in the polls and check things out. I don’t really look at it that way.”
Ei said that the team does need to continue to get better as the season goes on.
“We’re starting to see that we need to get better at the different little things, so for me it’s an everyday thing,” Ei said. “We need to get better, and if we’re not getting better then we’re definitely not staying the same.”
The first team the Cavs will see is Lincoln Land, whom the Cavs already beat at the JCCC tournament, but Lincoln Land went all five sets in a loss against number-one Parkland, so the squad could see more of a test this time.
Freshman Maren Mair has had a tremendous impact on the squad this season. Mair leads the Cavs in hitting percentage, kills and blocks. She was also recently selected as KJCCC player of the week.
“She has such a calm demeanor to her, and she’s not super flashy,” Ei said. “She does so much as a block, defensive threat, and she also does such a good job offensively for us.”
Coach Ei compares Mair to a Cav great from a few years back.
“She does just what Preecy Seever did for us, just in a different way,” Ei said. “She has done such a great job stepping up as a freshman and the team loves her.”