The Sugar Bears volleyball team barely clenched a victory, 3-2, during its match in the Farris Center on Oct. 27 against the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders.
As part of a promotion for the Southland Conference Tournament being held at the Farris Center Nov. 18-20, the Sugar Bears volleyball team played in the Farris Center for the first time in two decades.
The Islanders took the lead during the first set, winning 25-22, with the Sugar Bears trailing behind. A kill by Islanders junior outside hitter Shannon Hullum gave the Islanders a head start in the set.
The Islanders started out strong in the second set by getting two kills before Sugar Bears’ freshman middle blocker Alicia Dittrich was able to get a kill with an assist from Sugar Bears sophomore setter Marissa Collins. The second set was back-and-forth between the Islanders and Sugar Bears. The Sugar Bears won the second set with a score of 25-23. The last point was made by a service error by Hullum.
The deciding factor of Thursday’s game was the fifth set.
The Sugar Bears started the fifth set strong, scoring the first point of the set with a kill by Dittrich, with an assist from Collins. The Islanders didn’t let the Sugar Bears lead for long, by taking the lead when Islanders senior outside hitter Jessica Korda scored a kill, putting the score at 2-3.
The Sugar Bears ended up winning the fifth set by a kill from Sugar Bears sophomore middle blocker Jessica Nagy. This gave the Sugar Bears a win with a score of 18-16.
Senior libero Cristin Curl had 32 digs during Thursday’s match. Dittrich earned a career high with 17 kills against the Islanders.
Coach David McFatrich said he wasn’t satisfied with the Sugar Bears’ performance.
“We didn’t do many things well. Cristin Curl did a great job, but other than that, we didn’t execute, we didn’t hit well but overall as a team, we didn’t pass well. It wasn’t a good night and somehow we managed to win,” McFatrich said. “We have to work on everything. We have effort, but we don’t have the execution.”
Sugar Bears freshman outside hitter Scout Brooks said she was proud of the effort that the team put forth in the game.
“We showed a lot of heart, but we didn’t play Sugar Bear volleyball tonight,” Brooks said. “The effort was there, and that’s what got us a win.”
McFatrich said he was proud of the heart that the Sugar Bears put forth.
“I’m proud of our outside hitter Scout Brooks and I’m proud of our libero Cristin Curl, because without them, we wouldn’t have won. We were out blocked, but we weren’t out hearted. Our heart and our effort in this match was great, and you have to have that especially when you’re not executing like we were,” McFatrich said.
Brooks said the Sugar Bears need to work on getting more points faster.
“We need to start out strong and be quick and fast. We need to work on putting the ball away because we aren’t a big team,” Brooks said.
