The Sugar Bears volleyball team showed neighboring teams what they’re made of this weekend at the Tiger Brawl tournament, dropping only one match to the hosting Memphis Tigers.

On Sept. 16 and Sept. 17, the Sugar Bears traveled to Memphis to face the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans, University of Memphis Tigers and UA at Pine Bluff Lions. The team had a relatively successful weekend, winning two out of its three matches. 

The Sugar Bears played Memphis in their second match of the day on the first day of the tournament. While the team was able to play two close games, it couldn’t produce a win against the Tigers. The Sugar Bears lost 25-22, 25-15 and 25-23. 

The biggest difference in the team’s performances was the number of blocks and kills throughout the match. Over all three games, the Sugar Bears had 35 kills to the Tigers’ 45, and only 3 blocks to Memphis’ 6. 

Despite it being the only match lost, the team still felt that it gave its all and learned from the match.

“I think our best match was against Memphis, it was good competition and we got to play against some smart players that really challenged us,” freshman defensive specialist and libero Alexis McDaniel said. “The loss on Memphis isn’t what we hoped for, but it also wasn’t upsetting in the sense that we did give it all we had. We played hard and they gave us a good run, our coach agreed that we gave it all we had and stayed with them nicely.”

McDaniel was a leader in both aces and assists in the match against UALR. 

The team’s matches against UALR and UAPB were nearly identical in score. In both matches, the team gave up 16, 17 and 18 points in each three games. 

Stats aside, the Sugar Bears credit their success to good energy on the court. 

“The whole team was energetic and rallied together well … energy and positivity on and off the court are essential,” junior middle blocker and outside hitter Macy Blackburn said.

Blackburn also shouted out a teammate who she felt was a major contribution to the team this weekend.

“April Conant stuck out because she always had great energy on the court and played so well. We knew we could give her the ball and she would get a kill,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn led the team in blocks and was second in kills in the match against UALR. Conant, a junior middle blocker, led the team with 12 kills and three blocks in the match against UAPB. 

Not only was the team able to walk away from the Tiger Brawl with a few more wins under its belt, but it was also able to learn more about how to play as a team. 

McDaniel said, “As the season goes on we’ve had to find our groove with playing for one another and not as divided and we’ve improved a lot on that.”

The team came out of this tournament with a couple of wins, a loss to learn from and preparation for its first conference match.

The Sugar Bears will travel to face their first ASUN conference opponent Jacksonville State on Friday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m.