The Lady Bisons took down one of their biggest rivals, Arkansas Tech, in an intense five-set match on Tuesday, putting their conference record at 2-0 and overall record 9-3 as of press time.
“I feel really good about this win,” Head Coach Meredith Fear said. “It was a tough and close game. I feel like these girls have suffered through what I call a ‘Tech hang-up’ but they finally got through it.”
The Lady Bisons won the first set, lost the second and third, then took the fourth 26-24. The fifth set began with Tech in the lead 4-0, but the Lady Bisons slowly took the lead coming out with a 15-12 victory.
“This win was a big hurdle mentally,” Fear said. “We had some errors but we stuck it out and worked together. This is a big momentum win for us.”
Sophomore middle blocker Liv Savage was ecstatic after the match. “It was the best feeling ever,” Savage said. “Our matches are always tough against Tech, they always seem to go to five games, but nowwe’re on top.”
Before the match, sophomoresetter Taryn Eubank said she knew it was going to be a difficult evening. “Our biggest rival I would say is Arkansas Tech,” Eubank said. “We have been preparing for them with different drills and strategies during practice and I know we are readyfor them.”
Junior outside hitter Lisa Copeland and senior setter Amber Schinzing have both already been named GAC players of the week this season.
On Sept. 13, the team defeated Lyon College in three sets. Fear said another significant accomplishment for the team was defeating Pittsburg State University.
“It is still pretty early in the season and we have a lot of goals yet to accomplish, but thus far in the season, I’d have to say our five-set win over Pitt State,” Fear said. “It was the first time this year that the team overcame adversity within a match and beat a worthy opponent.”
In the match against previously undefeated Pittsburg State, Schinzing recorded 59 assists and 12 digs and Copeland averaged 4.93 digs per set.
“I want to see the team win the conference and continue on to the NCAA tournament — there’s no reason why we can’t,” Eubank said.
Fear has a similar vision.
“It is our very realistic goal to win conference and potentially go undefeated in conference play,” Fear said.
If the team keeps up their game, Fear said they can go far this season. “We occasionally have shown two different teams,” Fear said. “One team is very good, plays well together and enjoys the game, and the other does not. But, it is a challenge we are well on our way to overcoming.” The Lady Bisons played their third GAC match against Ouchita Baptist University on Thursday, but results were not available at press time.
