Volleyball’s Tri Match Sets the Tone for Rest of the Season

Masks+and+a+cut+out+audience+are+some+of+the+challenges+that+volleyball+has+faced+due+to+COVID-19.

Brent Butler

Masks and a cut out audience are some of the challenges that volleyball has faced due to COVID-19.

Guest Contributor, Veronica Garrou

The Emory & Henry women’s volleyball team is back on the court after about 500 days since their last match. “We are all super excited to be back on the court . . . so we were all hyped up and ready to get after it! It is our last year in the ODAC, and we are hoping to end with a great season!” Kendall Humphreys, a right side hitter for the volleyball team exclaimed.

On Mar. 27, the women’s volleyball team played in a tri match against Eastern Mennonite University and Guilford College. Both opposing teams lost 3-0. Head Coach, Kyla King, was pleased with her team’s performance during the tri match; “I was very happy with how we played against both programs. We kept our tempo fast and played our style of volleyball which has been our goal with every game.”

This tri match has given the team a jumping off point for the rest of their season. Humphreys expressed “we had some of our toughest games in the beginning of the season, so we didn’t start off as strong as we had hoped . . . we have six games left of our regular season, so we are hoping to finish strong and make it to the ODAC’s championship.”

This was corroborated in Coach King’s optimistic affirmation; “I’m extremely happy with our athletes’ work ethic and grit; we’ve fought hard with the teams that we lost to and elevated our play with those that we have won against. Our ultimate goal this season is to make it into the conference championship.”

One major change to the volleyball team this year is that each player has to wear a mask during the matches due to COVID-19. Coach King expressed the challenge that the new policy presents; “our sport is a heavy communication sport and the masks have made it touch more difficult.”

However, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic and how the season turns out, the volleyball team is still pushing to raise money for the Dig Pink Foundation. Their goal is to beat the previous year’s donation of $980. Coach King established “for our final game of the season vs Ferrum on Apr. 13 we will be doing two Dig Pink fundraisers this year, the first one is with the Greeks for the Battle of the Bra so be on the lookout for that information via email. Our second Dig Pink Fundraiser we will have the raffle again for $150 worth of gift cards with a link to Venmo on our Instagram page.”

The rest of the Volleyball team’s season can be watched on https://gowasps.com/landing/index