The Lady Bisons volleyball team is undefeated in the GAC and had a record of 15-6 as of press time. Their next conference match is at home against Southern Nazarene University at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Here’s a look at head coach Meredith Fear’s perspective on the season.
Q: How do you feel about the season thus far?
A: The season is going really well so far. The team is improving each match and we are hoping to continue that trend until the end and peak at our conference tournament in November. We lost a few matches early in the season that we probably shouldn’t have, but they have turned into learning opportunities and the team is better for it. So far, we are undefeated in conference play, which is right where we’d like to be.
Q: Who would you pick as your strongest players? Why?
A: That’s a tough question.We are really well-rounded this year. Offensively, different hitters step up at different times and same with defense. However, our primary “go-to” hitter is Mollie Arnold. She is a junior outside hitter who is leading the conference and is in the top 20 in the nation in kills per set. (Senior) Amber Schinzing has been setting for us this year, which is like the quarterback position in volleyball. She’s also in the top 25 in the nation for assists per set.And then leading our defense is junior libero Lisa Copeland.She leads the team in both digs and aces per set.
Q: Your next conference match is against Southern Nazarene University this weekend. How do you feel about that match up? What have you been doing to prepare?
A: I am excited about our match up with SNU. They are new to both the conference and the NCAA this season. Since we have never played them before, the team is going into the match with confidence and an open mind for expectations.We play Union University before SNU, so right now in practice we are focused on them. We take things one match at a time and don’t overlook any opponent.
Q: How do you see the team ending the season? Why?
A: It has been our goal this season to go undefeated in conference play. I’m confident we can reach that goal.This past weekend we played some really tough teams including No. 4 ranked Washburn University who we lost to in five sets. However, the team played the best that they have all season in that match so I have raised my expectations in what’s possible for us out on the court. I know they’ll do well with the rest of conference play.
Q: What do you think is the team’s biggest challenge for the remainder of the season?
A: Each match in the rest of our season is a challenge. We have to focus on them and beat them one at a time. Obviously, we would like to host the conference tournament in November.To do that, we would need to beat the other high ranking teams in our conference, being Southern Arkansas University and Arkansas Tech.
