Ali Morrison ~ Assistant News Editor
This school year, at the University of Lynchburg, a beach volleyball team debuted as the newest women’s sport on campus.
This past weekend, the team traveled to Laurinburg, North Carolina to compete against Division III and Division II schools like Bob Jones University and St. Andrews University.
With this being the team’s first ever season and only having freshman and sophomores on the team, it is a learning process for everyone involved.
“I think that there is a little bit more pressure on us because we are a new sport this season but I think as a team we have handled it very well so far and have set good expectations for ourselves and the program itself,” said freshman, Kailey Keough who feels slightly under pressure as a member of the new team.
Another reason that the team is learning so much is due to travel. With only one home weekend in the season so far, many of the matches are on the road in various different states. This can be quite draining for players, but Coach Hannah Givens sees this as a great opportunity for her players.
“We do travel a lot, but I think it’s so good for these girls to see different players from all over. We see D3 [Division III] teams, but we also see some upper competition in D2 [Division II] as well as even some JUCO’s [Junior Colleges]. Being on the road can be a challenge, but this group is so willing for everything,” said Givens.
There is a lot of excitement from this team, and they are only growing and growing. With 11 underclassmen, and a continued recruitment effort, the program is slated to improve.
With some tough losses at the beginning of the season, the wins seems to be accumulating more for the team. The win against Bob Jones this weekend put another win under the team’s belt. “It seems as if each match we play as a team we are all collectively getting better and better and it is so fun watching everyone grow as individuals on and off the court,” Keough said.
While the team will be traveling to Marshall, Texas in the following weeks, you can catch their next home games against big opponents like Catawba College and Stevenson University on April 1st.