Men’s Volleyball
It was a busy weekend for the volleyball team as they competed in the Graceland Triangular Tournament in Lamoni Iowa. The tournament saw SXU compete in back-to-back games against some of the toughest competition in the nation.
Sat, March 11 Graceland University
The Cougars started off the tournament by go up against the host Graceland University in what was sure to be an exciting first-round matchup. While the matchup was exciting, it wasn’t the ideal one for the Cougars as they lost 3 sets to 1. Each set was closely contested but all hope seemed lost once Graceland took the first two sets. SXU stayed persistent as their strong will and their strong leader in senior Sean Barry (team-high 18 kills) led them to a 25-18 set victory. With a comeback seeming imminent with the strong play of the Cougars, Graceland quickly shut it down by winning the fourth and final set. While the loss here was upsetting, maybe this is the fire SXU needs to bounce back with a win against their next opponent.
Ottawa University
The Cougars had a real test with their next matchup which was against a 18-3 Ottawa University, one of the top teams in their division and in the nation. While winning this matchup would be a big challenge for the Cougars, as the great philosopher Kevin Garnett once said, “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!”, plus, the Cougars were sure to use the fuel from their last loss to propel them to a upset win right? Unfortunately, wrong. The Cougars did manage to keep up with Ottawa by only losing the first set by a margin of 3 (25-22). The next set though SXU was simply demolished as they lost the 2nd set 25-12 and continued to lose the next set (25-18) and the game.
It’s safe to say that the Graceland Triangular didn’t go the way of the Cougars and the season as a whole for that matter. The Cougars currently sit at a record of 5-12 placing them at the bottom of their division. Despite this, there’s still more games to play so they can still turn it around. The clock is clicking though so if the playoffs are a goal for the Cougars they need to start getting on it.
A win against upcoming matchup Lourdes University would be a nice start for the comeback.
For a recap of that game and many other keep it locked here at the Xavierite.
Kenneth Washington
Sports Editor