The ConVal volleyball team didn't play to its full potential in Tuesday's three-set loss to visiting Milford, but even after last year's team raised the bar for program success, coach Amanda Hinton said this group could exceed expectations yet again. 

"We are young and inexperienced -- and we're going to be phenomenal for the rest of the season," Hinton said. "I believe in that. I think that we're strong. We just need to tweak a couple things."

Tuesday's 3-0 loss was a bit of a letdown after the Cougars opened the season with a convincing sweep of Kennett and a competitive 3-1 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. ConVal was not highly energetic to start the Milford match and dropped the first set 25-19.

"We were definitely in a lull today," Hinton said. "We looked a little sleepy at the beginning of the game and we just never really got in our groove."

The Cougars actually opened a decent lead in the second set, but erratic passing and passive net play paired with the Spartans' aggressive hitting and strong serving resulted in a 25-22 Milford comeback win that took the wind out of ConVal's sails for good; the Spartans dominated the third set 25-13 to complete the sweep.

"[Milford] capitalized on being able to attack the ball at us when we didn't put forth our best offensive game today of being able to attack the ball at them," Hinton said. 

The Cougars also made 12 uncharacteristic serve-receive errors. Cleaning that up and working to improve their setting game should unlock ConVal's potential as a team that can hit with anybody at the net. Sophomore Ivy Armstrong-McEvoy (five kills, six blocks, 13 digs) and senior co-captain Emma Rodenhiser (three kills, eight digs, three aces) are as dynamic a duo up front as can be found in Division II volleyball.

"Our two middles are the hugest part of our offense," Hinton said. "They block, they serve well, they can kill the ball on any given moment -- when they get the ball. So we need to continue to work on being able to utilize them as the powerful hitters that they are."

After the Cougars graduated their top assist-creators last spring, ConVal is looking to a pair of sophomores to step up and fill that void. Zadie Marshall (one kill, seven assists, seven digs) and Ashlynn Williams (four assists, two aces, four kills) look like they're on the verge of taking over those roles, and with a few more reps to tighten things up, they should have ConVal back on track. 

The Cougars also get good outside hitting play from junior Brynn Frosch and senior co-captain Aria Laurent (two kills, two assists), while junior defensive specialist Emily Steinberg has been a pleasant surprise this fall, contributing enough defensive effort to earn her the libero jersey. 

"[Steinberg] has been playing great defense," Hinton said. 

Despite the higher expectations set by last year's Cougars, who went 11-5 in the regular season and won the program's first-ever playoff game, Hinton said this year's team could finish even higher. When they're on their game, they should be competitive with just about any team in the division, and they'll only play six games against teams that finished above .500 last season.

"I have really high expectations for this year," Hinton said.

So high, in fact, that she has her sights on another program-best record of 12-4. With two losses already tallied, the Cougars would have to be nearly flawless the rest of the way. 

"Get ready for it," Hinton said. "It's going to happen."

ConVal (1-2) is at John Stark -- the team that swept the Cougars out of the quarterfinals last fall -- on Thursday.