After trips to Louisiana and Missouri, the road-weary Lady Bulldog volleyball team will look for a boost this weekend in its first home matches of the season.
Coming off a 1-3 stint in Missouri last weekend, the team will host Memphis, Louisiana Tech and Eastern Kentucky at the MSU/Microtel Classic. The tournament will be in Humphrey Coliseum.
Memphis enters the weekend with a 7-4 record, Eastern Kentucky is 8-1 and Louisiana Tech is 3-5. All three teams could prove to be challenges, but head coach Tina Seals says that teams’ records are not always an indication of how tough they are.
“Our philosophy is not to put any team on a pedestal,” Seals said. “We play everyone equal. A team may have a great record, but you never know how they are going to matchup with you. You could be very good at something they are weak at. We learned that last weekend.”
The outcomes of last weekend’s matches were not what the team was looking for after a largely successful opening tournament where the Lady Dawgs tied their 2003 win total. However, Seals says that the Missouri tournament was far from being considered a failure.
“We succeeded last weekend by continuing to learn to play with each other. This is a young team, and there are still things we need to learn–some mental, others physical. But we are improving with each match.”
Junior outside hitter Rachel Cooper said the team merely lacks focus, and consistency.
“We’re really young this year and we just seem to play in spurts,” Cooper said. “We will play really great for a while, like we could beat anyone in the country. Then, it will just fall apart. We just need to minimize the downtimes and be more consistent.”
Players and coaches alike are happy to be competing here at home this weekend. Seals said she’s glad the girls will be able to attend their Friday classes, not to mention a chance for the home fans to get to see their team in person.
Cooper is excited about the prospect of having a crowd cheering for them rather than against them.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Cooper said of the atmosphere in The Hump. “We’re finally coming together and playing well. Playing at home always gives you more energy and momentum. No one likes to lose at home, and we won’t.”