Lauren Adams' Volleyball Diary: 9/5/06
9/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2006
Each week, senior volleyball player Lauren Adams will take a few minutes to chronicle the Ladyjacks' weekly journey in search of their third consecutive Southland Conference Championship. Be sure to check out www.sfajacks.com every Monday throughout the season to keep up with the Ladyjacks.
Our second weekend in action began Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. when the team departed Nacogdoches. Eight hours, three movies and one fabulous buffet lunch from the Western Sizzlin' later we arrived in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We headed immediately to the Razorback volleyball facility for a brief practice and orientation. After a satisfying practice we made our way to our hotel for some much needed rest.
We awoke the following morning and met in lobby at 9:00 a.m. for breakfast (there's nothing like mini muffins and prune Danish to invigorate one at such an early hour.) The team then departed for the gym to prepare for our first match of the tournament versus Sacramento State, a well-respected team from California (not New York as believed by pre-med freshman Briana Taylor.) The gym was empty and the warm-up music was less that stimulating. This, unfortunately, set a low-energy tone that we as team allowed to carry over to our match. The game did feel as close and the scoreboard read. Our lower-than-usual intensity and a lack of proper skill execution earned us our first loss of the season. The disappointment was felt by all members of the team and sat heavily on our shoulders during our break. We entered the Arkansas match that evening with a much more intense attitude and determination to play OUR game. It was a battle for both teams and we needed to utilize everyone. Freshman Lauren Michael made her collegiate debut sporting not one but two pairs of spandex shorts. Though the extra pair caused her some minor anxiety she was able to overcome and provide a much needed spark for the team which allowed us to win games 2 and 3. The match was pushed to a tie-breaking 5th game. Though we played with our desired level of energy and intensity our 21 service errors proved to be too much to overcome and we recorded our 2nd loss of the season. Frustrated, we made our back to the hotel to recuperate before our final match the next day.
A refreshed and revitalized team woke up late in the morning ready to take on Southeast Missouri State that afternoon. We were determined to win this match and begin a new winning streak. We played a solid match with minimal unforced errors. We beat SEMO in 3 games.
Though the weekend did not conclude the way we hoped it would we did take some positive things away from it. Senior Stephanie Figgers received the well-deserved honor of being named to the all-tournament team and we learned that we can not just show up and win. Though we are a good team and are capable of unprecedented success we must work to earn every point and every game. We also got a better understanding of the difference between what it means to be beaten and what it means to lose. Hopefully this renovated outlook with ensure success throughout the rest of the season. - Our next opportunity to prove ourselves will be this weekend when we host Tennessee State, Arkansas State, Houston, and Baylor at our own tournament.
