As day two of the Hilton Garden Inn Classic began on Sept. 3, the women’s volleyball team found itself needing to do what head coach Meredith Fear said it was unable to do last season: bounce back from a loss.
“Last year we did not have a response to adversity, and this year they’ve already proven that they can step up,” Fear said.
The Lady Bisons responded to back-to-back 3-1 losses to Lubbock Christian University and Newman University on Sept. 2 by defeating Texas Woman’s University (TWU) 3-1 and Texas A&M University-Commerce (TAMUC) 3-1 the next day.
According to Fear, it was, ironically, fear itself that held the Lady Bisons back during the first day of the tournament.
“A big theme that we switched from Friday to Saturday was playing with belief over fear,” Fear said. “We focused on not being afraid to lose or afraid to make a mistake, but playing from a place of belief in yourself and your teammates, and I think that mentality helped us a lot.”
Junior middle blocker Taylor Mounts, who had 30 kills between the two wins over TWU and TAMUC, said the Lady Bisons improved performance was a result of a more positive mindset.
“I think the team dynamic changed a little bit,” Mounts said. “It has a lot to do with confidence, and I think the second day we went in knowing this is something we could do and that we could win today if we put our best foot forward.”
Mounts acknowledged the good performance of sophomore defensive specialist Taylor Lake, who was named Great American Conference defensive player of the week after her performance at the tournament. Lake recorded 101 digs in four games over the weekend.
“(Taylor) is a super hard worker, she’ll go for any ball, and I know especially since I’m not as confident on back row that when I’m standing next to her I can trust her 100 percent,” Mounts said.
Lake, one of the team’s seven sophomores, said that receiving the award was an honor, but was quick to give credit to her teammates for the success.
“It was exciting to see, just because defensively the entire team had an amazing weekend,” Lake said. “It was something that represented not only how I played but how everyone played.”
As the conference season approaches, the Lady Bisons will look to become more comfortable in their positions on court, which Fear said were altered over the weekend.
“We made a few lineup adjustments that helped us on Saturday,” Fear said. “We were struggling on the outside, which is a big position. We have a lot of talented girls that can play that position, so we were just trying to still figure out the who and where and what.”
According to Mounts, the team is flexible when it comes to the lineup, but needs to continue gaining confidence.
“A few of us are really more utility players like myself — I can pretty much play anywhere — so I think we have a lot of options to find a lineup that flows better,” Mounts said. “I think our biggest obstacle is mental. We’re a really talented team and we have a lot of really good players, but we don’t always understand that we’re capable of being really good.”
The Lady Bisons’ next match is in the Southwest Baptist Tournament in Bolivar, Missouri beginning on Sept. 9.
