The UCA women’s volleyball team clawed their way to a 3-0 victory against the Illinois State Redbirds at the Mizzou Classic, garnering their first win of the season, but dropped the next game 2-3 against host University of Missouri.
In the first game, the Sugar Bears (1-2) won all three sets (31-29, 25-22, 25-13) on Aug. 26 against the Redbirds (0-2).
Sophomore setter Caylan Koons said, “Winning the game was super exciting. It was our first win of the season, so that feeling always feels great.”
Coach John Newberry was pleased with the Sugar Bears’ win against a well-matched opponent.
“I’m really excited about this win today against Illinois State,” Newberry said. “They were a huge team that we were pretty worried about. They’ve got a lot of size and great talent in the middle.”
Koons said the most valuable aspect of the team is that they never gave up during the game.
“We were down to Illinois State set point, but we fought back to win set one,” Koons said. “We were also down by a few in set two but still never gave up and kept fighting to win that one as well.”
Koons said freshman Jenna DeLaMater, a libero and defensive specialist, played a crucial role in winning the first set.
“Jenna’s aces at the end of the first set, those really changed the momentum into our favor to get us back tied,” Koons said.
Newberry said he was proud of DeLaMater’s performance.
“She came in and played an important impact role for us as a freshman right out of the gate, and I’m really proud of that,” he said.
DeLaMater had three digs, four aces, four points, and three assists during the match.
Newberry praised the team’s composure and diligence.
“We stayed aggressive with our serves and played really, really smart,” Newberry said. “Caylan Koons did an incredible job of going to the right people at the right time, and I think we did a really good job of putting the ball away.”
Koons was a lead player with 34 assists.
Newberry applauded the team’s persistence and teamwork.
“At one point we were 20-24, they had game point serving at us,” Newberry said. “We just didn’t give up. We had a game plan, and the girls stuck with it.”
“I really, really like the way we played,” he said. “I’m really proud of Lilly Taylor. Allison Holloway and Lexie Gregory had a phenomenal game as well.”
Junior and outside hitter Lilly Taylor had 12 kills, 15 points, three aces, and nine digs. Junior and middle blocker Allison Holloway had 10 kills, one ace, five blocks, and 14.5 points. Libero and defense specialist senior Lexie Gregory had 15 digs and three assists.
Newberry said this game was an excellent turnaround from their previous loss against the Colgate University Raiders and that the team’s pre-season work played a role.
“I think the grind that we had throughout our pre-season was extremely important. This is a great staff and team win,” he said.
Koons said that the team practices the tradition of “line dances in the locker room” and that they love “going crazy” and “hyping each other up” after a win like this.
In their last game of the Mizzou Classic, the scores teetered between each set. The Sugar Bears fought hard against the Mizzou Tigers but in the end, they were defeated (26-24, 25-19, 25-17, 25-20, 15-11).
Their next game will be Sept. 1 against the Jackson State Tigers at the Central Arkansas Invitational.
Updates on the Sugar Bears this season can be found @ucavball on social media and ucasports.com.