The Asbury women’s volleyball season is officially underway with a loss in their first game against Cumberlands last Wednesday night. The final scores of the sets were 9-25, 11-25, and 11-25.
“We lost, but we definitely all played our hearts out, which is all that matters,” sophomore Rilee O’Day said.
Senior Bethany Fye agreed. She wants to take the intensity the team possesses and build on it the rest of the semester, especially since they are just starting in the NAIA for the first time. Because of the new division three rules, most NAIA schools they face have already competed in many tournaments, giving the women an additional challenge.
“It is definitely going to make us work a lot harder in practice,” O’Day said. “There are a lot of things we can work on to make ourselves better as a team.”
Despite the loss, there were still areas the women agreed were strong.
“Overall we had some really good defensive opportunities,” Fye said. “We were doing really well to serve and revive as well, so that was also helpful in the beginning of the game.”
One of the biggest strengths the team had, according to O’Day, was their teamwork. “We didn’t get mad at one another and I know we did that a lot last year,” she said. “We would play as six individual people on the court when you can’t do that. You can’t be individual islands, you have to be one together to help everybody out.”
To make the adjustment from last year, they emphasized the team becoming a cohesive unit.
“We did a lot of team building over the summer,” O’Day said. “We had small groups over Zoom because we all live in different places. When we got here we did AU challenge courses for like four hours, and it was something we definitely needed for team bonding and for trust.”
The new freshmen have also started to settle in and adapt to the team’s values and goals.
“I think overall, they’ve stepped into their roles they’re supposed to play really well,” Fye said. “The returners have supported them, too.”
With this just being the beginning of the season, there are many things the girls are looking forward to, now that COVID-19 restrictions are more limited.
“I’m looking forward to traveling again,” Fye said. Traveling, to her, created fellowship. “Obviously, COVID-19 still exists and is still a struggle but we more or less have rhythm in athletics now.”
The women take on Berea College tonight at 7 p.m. for their third game of the season.