On March 9, the Beach Volleyball Bears closed out the Southeastern Invitational with a win against McNeese with the final score of 3-2.
After losing two of the previous matches during the tournament against the Cornhuskers and Golden Eagles, The Beach Bears would finally get a hard fought victory against Spring Hill College.
This is the Beach Bears’ first win of the season as they look to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the season.
Seniors Payton Sproules and Anna Collums helped lead the Beach Bears to victory.
Sproules spoke about what she is most proud of from this match and how the team has stayed connected with each other.
“I am most proud of Anna and I’s ability to adapt and adjust game plans quickly, our strong mentality, as well as our dominant presence on the court. We went into each match believing in our training and fighting with all we had. I am also proud of how we remained connected and communicated very well through each situation. We fought hard and had so much fun while doing so. It was a very rewarding weekend for us,” she said.
Sproules also mentioned how different her emotions were during this match compared to the March 3 match against the Cornhuskers.
“I performed well both mentally and physically, but I found myself feeling pretty exhausted by the last match. Compared to last weekend, I am most satisfied with my blocking and setting, as well as my mentality. I am learning to embrace my playing style — which I would describe as enjoying the moment and not taking myself so seriously — and this is helping me to enter into a flow state during important moments,” Sproules said.
Sproules said she was proud of some of the team’s freshmen.
“I am extremely proud of all of my teammates, but the one who stands out to me the most is Lili [freshman Liliana Irizary]. She moved up to a point-scoring position this weekend and performed so well. She and Ella [freshman Ella Weilert] earned two wins, contributing to both overall team wins. She is a strong presence at the net, her swings are amazing, and her passes and sets are always reliable. I think she did a great job at adapting so quickly to this change and she did so with confidence,” she said.
Sproules described what she would like to work on for the upcoming matches against Coastal Carolina and Tusculum.
“I would like to continue working on passing and attacking —especially in situations where I am tired — to prepare for our next tournament at Coastal Carolina. I felt that my body was not as responsive as I would have liked it to be at the end; it wasn’t as energetic as my mind was. So, I am going to have to practice being able to execute the same plays I can when I am feeling fresh even when my body is tired,” Sproules said.
The Beach Bears’ next match will travel to Conway, South Carolina, as they will take part in the Coastal Carolina Invitational against Coastal Carolina and Tusculum.
The matches will take place on March 15-16.
Both matches can be streamed on ESPN+.