The volleyball team will travel to Western Carolina Friday to play Eastern Kentucky, Coppin State and Western Carolina over the weekend. These three games will represent the Pack’s first regular season action of the year.
With a new coach in Bryan Bunn and a new group of girls, sophomore setter Megan Cyr said the team is excited to see how its hard work and practice will pay off.
“I think we have been working hard for the past couple weeks and preseason and I think we have a lot to show people,” Cyr said. “We are finally excited to get the chance to play someone other than ourselves.”
With only eight of the 18 players on the roster returning and only three seniors, there is a lot of change regarding the team dynamics. Bunn said he is still trying out different lineups to find the best combination of players to maximize the skill on the court.
“We see some of the people that are doing well in practice, but we need to put them in game situations to see who is going to perform under pressure,” Bunn said. “The pressure is on right now. We are trying out a lot of different lineups, but we really haven’t determined who our best players are. We are going to have to compete some with outside people to figure out who is going to do the job better.”
Right now, Bunn is looking to start Megan Cyr as setter, senior Alex Smith opposite her, and juniors Becah Fogle and Luciana Shafer as outside hitters. Junior Margaret Salata, freshman Brie Merriwether and senior Jana Angel are all fighting for middle hitter. Nothing, however, is set.
Angel said every girl on the team constantly works hard for the opportunity to play.
“We have a lot of really experienced girls,” Angel said. “I had really only played two years before I got here and a lot of the other girls were really inexperienced as well. Now we have a really good base of transfers and we have a lot of upperclassmen. We have a few freshmen, but even they are very skilled in the volleyball area. Everyone is really strong in everything. Nothing is promised to anyone. You are going to earn every minute you play here.”
Up until now the girls have only scrimmaged each other. Bunn said scrimmages show coaches where the team’s weak points are and allow them to cater practices around improving these weaknesses prior to the season.
“[It has shown me] some of the things we have to work on,” Bunn said. “Our first contacts have to improve, whether it’s a pass or dig. That is something that has to get better for us. We have been working every day. The scrimmage just reinforces what we were thinking. It’s a continuous process that you never really get perfect at; you just have to do it all the time.”
Excited for this upcoming tournament, the girls look forward to playing their hardest and showing everyone what this new mixture of players and coaches has to offer. The tournament will begin Friday at 2 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky, followed by a match against Coppin State at 5 p.m. The tournament will conclude on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the final match against Western Carolina.
