The Lady Bisons volleyball team fell short in last weekend’s tournament play at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic in Denton, Texas. The Lady Bisons lost the first two matches on Friday, Sept. 4, 3-2 and 3-1 against Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas Women’s University, respectively. The team began Saturday play with a 3-1 win over Texas University- International, but later fell to Cameron University 3-0.
Despite the tough weekend, head coach Meredith Fear said she sees growth and potential in her young team.
“We had a little bit of a slow start, and we’re a little bit inconsistent right now, but I’m attributing a little bit of that to our inexperience playing together,” Fear said. “I think as the season goes on that’s just going to get better and better.”
Junior middle blocker Sara Smith said this past weekend’s tournament play was a growing experience that allowed the team to learn what they need to work on in practice.
“We’re still getting used to the speed of the game with the new players and the returners, but now that we know what we need to work on, we can only go forward from here,” Smith said.
Newcomer and freshman middle blocker Zoe Hardin can attest to the transition that comes with a young team at the beginning of a season. Hardin said that collegiate play is a different and higher level than high school competition. Even with new players and returners adjusting to a new team dynamic, Hardin said the team has a good relationship and works well together already.
A good team dynamic will be crucial this weekend as the Lady Bisons travel to St. Charles, Missouri, to compete in the Lindenwood University Women’s Volleyball Invitational. Fear said the team has been focusing on teamwork, situational drills and mechanics to prepare for this weekend’s tournament play.
“We did a really good job (last weekend) in serve and serve-receive, but we didn’t contain teams very well defensively, so we are focusing on our defensive play,” Fear said. “(We are focusing on) both blocking and digging, and then being able to turn around and convert that into a kill or a termination play for us.”
The Lady Bisons kick-off tournament play today against University of Arkansas-Fort Smith at 1 p.m.
