FORT SMITH, AR - As the fall semester is coming to an end, we decided to speak with the UAFS head volleyball coach, Jane Sargent about her thoughts on the 2021 volleyball season and what her team can improve on moving forward.
From coming straight off a covid season from the year prior and getting back into the swing of a full season, it has not only been mentally challenging but physically as well.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for sure.” Sargent stated, “we have the largest DII conference in the country where we played everyone so travel and fatigue played a major factor during the season as well. The kids were resilient as always but it definitely was a long year.”
The UAFS Lady Lions finished off their season with a record of 15-14 in conference play. Unfortunately, they lost in the first round of the Lone Star Conference tournament to St. Edward's University which concluded their 2021 season. Sargent mentioned
“It was a challenging season because of the quick turnaround, but also the continued social distancing that Covid created.” She also mentioned that “In Volleyball like any other team sport you have to be able to trust your teammates and trust takes time and the ability to connect not only on the court but off of it as well and those opportunities were limited because of Covid. Our team definitely suffered a little of that.”
When looking back on the season, there's always a lesson you can learn to aid in improving for the next one. Sargent says
“The Lone Star is a tough conference to compete in and if you don’t come to play every single match then you won’t be successful. That nothing is given, everything is earned.” While getting prepared for the offseason, she says
“The plan this spring is to focus more on weight training, agilities as well as adding some activities for team bonding to develop that cohesiveness that will carry over into the Fall 2022 season.”
While the 2021 season may have not ended as they expected, there are still high hopes for the future of the UAFS volleyball program. She concludes by saying that
“We will be adding some transfers to our roster which will give us additional experience and depth.” And the goal for the 2022 season is to strive to “be at the top of the conference, work hard, play hard, and to win.”
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