Through eight games to start the 2025 season, Asbury’s volleyball squad found themselves at 2-6, nearly winless on the road, facing a growingly difficult schedule and naturally rising expectations.
Since then, the unit has won five straight, pulling their overall tally to 7-6 and completely flipping the widely negative outlook that appeared to be crashing in on them. How does that old saying go? “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over”?
To boot, the team’s next three games are all at home, providing the Eagles with a home-court advantage that has, up to this point, been very kind to them. At 4-1 in Wilmore on the year, Asbury, given their potentially continued hot streak, could be looking at a 10-6 record by the time their home stretch is over. Downright miraculous, all things considered.
Their sudden switch-up is made even better by last year’s team having had consistent success. The 2024 Eagles finished their run at a scorching 21-8 mark; 9-4 at home, 7-3 on the road and 5-1 on neutral courts. With this year’s team getting off to a rough start, the standard set by their forebearers appeared as an unfortunate potential fluke.
In 2023, the team finished 10-15. The year before? 5-15. Now, assuming their run continues, it looks more like the status quo for a program quickly climbing their way to the top of athletics relevancy at Asbury.
Going forward, the Eagles will traverse one more full month of regular season scheduling throughout October before the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) begins tournament play in early November. Following that tournament, two more postseason competitions are slated to take place, in the form of the NCCAA Regionals and, ultimately, the NCAA Tournament.
It’s dangerous to get ahead of a team and assume their late-season success, but if the Eagles keep their claws on the pedal, they’ve got all the momentum to make a run similarly special to the one that last season’s team made their name by.
If you haven’t made a game at the Luce just yet, the home double-header on Saturday, Oct. 11 presents the perfect opportunity to get out and support one of the university’s more exciting sporting offerings. The first match is at noon against Huntingdon College, with the latter taking place at 4 p.m. versus Piedmont University.
Photo courtesy of Asbury Smug Mug.
