The Lady Bisons volleyball team split home matches with Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) and Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) last weekend, defeating NWOSU 3-0 on Oct. 16, before falling to SWOSU 3-1 on Oct. 17.
Senior outside hitter Molly Howard tallied 25 kills over the two matches but saw room for improvement in the team’s performance against SWOSU.
“We didn’t come out the way we normally do at home, which is confident and controlled in the way we play,” Howard said. “Southwestern was a team that got emotionally high when they went on runs and we let that affect the way we played.”
Head coach Meredith Fear agreed that SWOSU’s ability to go on runs of six or seven points affected the Lady Bisons.
“We just gave away a few too many points at the wrong times and that ended up being the difference in the match,” Fear said.
Fear said she attributes some of the team’s inconsistency to its youth but still sees potential in the underclassmen.
“(Youth) has been a big factor, and I knew having seven freshmen would be an issue,” Fear said. “When we’re on, with the talent level we have, we do really well, and that is why the future of this season and the next few are so bright.”
Two matches away from home — one against Oklahoma Baptist University (OKBU) in Shawnee, Oklahoma today and the other against Southern Nazarene University (SNU) in Bethany, Oklahoma tomorrow—have taken the focus off Fear and the Lady Bisons, who hope to draw from the NWOSU win as they hit the road.
“I think we are going to match up better with these two teams,” Fear said. “Against NWOSU we did well controlling the match and fighting out quickly. When you are in control of the match and hold your serve, you eliminate runs and have a good chance to win.”
According to Howard, the Lady Bisons are ready for what will be a challenging road trip, as SNU and OKBU are in second and third in the GAC standings, respectively.
“We are going to go into these matches with a winning attitude,” Howard said. “We just have to go onto their courts and be comfortable, and we’ll bring the fuel from losing to SWOSU with us. We don’t get a match off because of the way our conference is playing, so we have to learn to fight through the tough moments.”
Fear said she is sticking with the message she hss been giving her team since the beginning of the season: perseverance.
“We’ve been preaching all year to persevere, no matter the circumstance,” Fear said. “We are a team good enough to win the conference, we just have to persevere.”
