Hamline volleyball ran scrimmages  playing in close situations in practice last week and it paid off for them in their dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over the Gustavus Adolphus Gusties at Hutton Arena last Friday, Oct. 3.

“That’s the definition of pulling out games. Closing them out and fighting when it matters to fight,” senior co-captain Lynsey Reimer said. “That’s what we’ve been working on this week and to come out here [against Gustavus] and execute it feels awesome, especially being down 2-0 and then fighting back. Like I said previously, the fans are the difference right there.”

Pipers hosted the Gusties in a MIAC showdown for the Pipers second home conference game on Oct. 3. Prior to the game, the Pipers were 2-1 in conference following a 3-0 loss at Concordia on Sept. 24 and a 3-0 win at St. Olaf on Sept. 27.

Paige Walters, senior co-captain, said the team was using their conference lost to Concordia as motivation in their game against the Gusties.

“It was a tough loss against Concordia but we knew it was going to be a battle. We didn’t represent as well as we wanted to. There’s a little bit of sourness and we really want to crush Gustavus on Friday, to kind of prove ourselves again,” Walters said.

Reimer said their win against St. Olaf proves the Pipers aren’t going to lose sleep over their loss at Concordia.

“We can fight back. We believe in ourselves. Concordia is a good team, that’s not an excuse to lose to them by any means, but one loss isn’t going to stop the rest of our season. We still want to be successful in conference. We get beat by Concordia, we’re going to come back and beat every other team, so that’s the goal,” Reimer said.

Walters said to get to the playoffs again they would need to beat Gustavus.

“We really want to make playoffs again, that is just driving us so hard,” Walters said. “Games like Gustavus are crucial matches. Concordia is a top of the conference team. It would have been really cool to beat them to prove where we’re at but Gustavus you got to do it. You just got to win it to be able to make playoffs and extend the season.”

Head Coach Becky Egan anticipated a hard fought game.

“I’m excited. Gustavus is a great team this year. They’re even different than what they had last year, they’re a lot tougher,” Egan said. “Having them in our gym is a great advantage. Our fan base is phenomenal. They create so much energy for us, even when we are leaning away from our consistency.”

During the first set of the game, the Gusties took advantage of errors by the Pipers and capitalized early on as they had the momentum. The Pipers eventually found themselves down 20-5. The Pipers started a run and put some more points on the board before an error ended the set at 25-11.

Before the game, Egan said the one thing the team needed was consistency.

“The one thing that we are still working on is playing consistently and having that consistent transfer and that consistent push against teams,” Egan said.

In the second set, the Pipers trailed early 8-3 but came back to push ahead to take a 17-15 lead over the Gusties. Eventually, both team’s tied at 23 and the Gusties registered two more points to close the second set 25-23. The Pipers had their backs against the wall as they were down 0-2.

Before the game, Reimer said the team had been practicing closing out sets since they lost the third set to Concordia.

“We were up like 22-16 against Concordia and we end up losing. That sucks, that’s just not what Hamline volleyball is,” Reimer said. “In practice…we’re scrimmaging 17-17, who’s going to win this because those are the moments where you got to battle. You don’t get to relax when it’s 18-18. You can’t get casual. That’s the time to push, that’s the time to battle.”

Walters said in situations like that they needed to remain calm.

“Just working on staying calm and finishing the game. Just playing our game out the way we need to instead of letting the other team steal the momentum,” Walters said.

In the third set, the Pipers came in with that mentality and played “Hamline Volleyball.”

The Pipers took an early 4-2 lead before the Gusties cameback to pace themselves with a four point lead until they reached 18-14. Undeterred, the Pipers rallied to take the lead 22-20 with back to back kills by junior Katie Ayres, an ace by Reimer and an error by the Gusties.

With the fans chanting “let’s go Pipers,” Hamline volleyball was back on their feet with the crowd behind them and closed out the third set with a kill by Ayres to win 25-22.

As the Pipers got their swag back, for the first time of the night they took control and held a lead for the majority of the fourth set. Since the Gusties scored the first point of the set, the Pipers managed to hold them off for the remainder of the set as they never regained the lead. The fans gave them a standing ovation and remained standing to support them score the final point of the set, a kill by junior Michelle Mattke to win the fourth set 25-22.

Egan said she’d give her team a high “B” as a grade for their performance early in the season.

“Right now I would definitely give us a high ‘B,’ just because of the stuff that they’re taking away from practice and implementing them into competition. That’s never an easy thing for any team to do and they’re doing that,” Egan said.

The Pipers execution against the Gusties was another testament of how they apply what’s being practiced in game situations.

In the final set, Piper fans stood for the entire regulation. The Pipers came back from an early 7-3 deficit to go on a 9-1 scoring run to take a 12-8 lead. The Gusties managed to score two points in attempt to creep back into the game, the lead was cut to 12-10.

Reimer was determined to not make the same mistake they made against Concordia.

“We’re right there, we get casual and complacent at the end. It’s like we don’t want to lose and that’s not what this is about. It’s about playing to win, not playing to not lose,” Reimer said.

The Pipers came to win as Ayres ended the Gusties 3-1 scoring run to put the Pipers within one point from winning. With the score at 14-11, a sailing ball from the Gusties that landed behind the line gave the Pipers the win. The floor at Hutton Arena vibrated with the Pipers home crowd screaming as Hamline volleyball’s bench rushed the court to celebrate to the tune of House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”

“It’s awesome. That’s a huge win against Gustavus that’s one of those in between games. We’re kind of in the middle of the pack, both of us, and that’s going to give us the edge against everyone else. I’m really pumped right now,” Reimer said following the victory.