Returning from an undefeated Great American Conference season last year, the Harding Lady Bisons are back in swing and ready to take on this volleyball season. Recently picked first in the GAC Preseason Poll, the Lady Bison volleyball team has high hopes for this season and are determined to match last year’s undefeated record.
Meredith Fear, a 2008 Harding graduate, begins her second season coaching the Lady Bisons this year. Fear said if they can win the GAC tournament again this year, then the Lady Bisons have the opportunity to go to the national tournament.
The volleyball team added three new freshmen and one new transfer student to make a total of 15 Lady Bisons this season. Fear said the team chemistry is really coming together, and it is solid across the board, showing a promising future for the team.
Mollie Arnold, senior team captain and the 2012 GAC player of the year, said she is excited about what the team is capable of doing this season but understands the hard work it will take.
“We had such an incredible season last year and were very blessed by winning conference and being undefeated,” Arnold said. “We are going to have to work that much harder if we want to prove ourselves again.”
“The biggest challenge for us this year is to make each game the most important so as to help our national ranking,” junior setter Taryn Eubank said. “I am excited about the potential this team has this year to go far and make it to the national tournament.”
Above all else though, the Lady Bisons know the relationships built along the way are the most important part of being on the team.
“My favorite thing about Harding volleyball is how close we are as a unit and how my team is truly people I care a lot about,” junior middle blocker Liv Savage said. “We are a family and it’s a great feeling.”
Fear said their motto is modeled after “Christian, student, athlete,” in that order.
“Our priority is about spirituality, then academics, then athletics,” Fear said. “My favorite part of coaching is just being around the girls and forming relationships with them: having the charge of leading by example and being a mentor to them.”
The Lady Bisons have already had a scrimmage and will play their first exhibition game on Sept. 3 against Lyon College in Batesville, Ark.
Their first tournament is Sept. 6 and 7 against Cal Poly Pomona in San Bernardino, Calif.
