Written by Carly Kester
The Lady Bisons volleyball team will play in the Gulf South Conference championship tournament Nov. 12-13 at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. The tournament features the top four teams in the West versus the top four teams in the East.The top teams in the West are No. 1 Arkansas Tech, No. 2 Harding University, No. 3 Christian Brothers and No. 4 Henderson State. Top teams in the East include No. 1 West Florida, No. 2 North Alabama, No. 3 Valdosta State and No. 4 West Alabama.The Lady Bisons will play Valdosta State in the first round of the quarterfinals. If they win the GSC tournament, they get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.Head coach Keith Giboney said being matched against higher-ranking opponents throughout the conference season has helped the team prepare for the tournament.”We’ve had a more difficult schedule [this season] than we’ve ever had,” Giboney said. “We’ve had a lot of ranked teams in the top 10 and top 25. We took our licks for that, but we saw really good competition, which I feel makes you better.”Senior middle blocker Sam Anderson said the team’s experience with playing three of the eastern teams in the conference (North Alabama, Arkansas Tech and West Florida) should help them get a better idea of how to strategize against those teams in the tournament.”We’ve lost to [the three teams] previously, and we know what they run and know how they work now, so hopefully we’ll be able to be prepared for that this time around,” Anderson said.Giboney praised the team members for their skill and potential. He said ending the conference season with a 10-2 finish is something to be proud of.Giboney also said his expectations for the tournament are for the players to put forth their best effort.”What I want is our best team to go out there, show up and walk away winning or losing feeling like they put in a good effort and were able to accomplish a lot,” Giboney said. “If they do that, there’s no end to what they’re capable of.”The Lady Bisons’ first round of the tournament is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, against Valdosta State at the University of West Florida.”Whether we advance out of the tournament or we lose in the first round, I’ll be able to walk away feeling great about what we’ve done and where we’ve come,” Giboney said.
