Over fall break many students traveled home to visit with loved ones, while many student-athletes traveled to other schools and places for competitions this past weekend.
Men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer spent fall break playing different Gulf South Conference opponents with the hope of adding wins to their records.
The cross country teams first practiced on Thursday and then went to the ComeUnity Café to serve together as a team, said Audrey Hazlehurst, a pharmacy student.
“Then on Friday, we traveled to West Georgia, stopping in Birmingham to run on the cross-country course that we run on for our conference meet,” Hazelhurst said.
On Saturday, the women’s team placed first over all in the West Georgia Cross Country Invitational. Hazlehurst came in second overall, followed by six Lady Bulldogs claiming third through eighth place finishes.
The men’s cross country team finished second in the UWG Invitational. Jacob Whitney, a sophomore biochemistry major, finished second overall, followed by Will Donelson, a sophomore chemistry major, coming in third.
Head cross country coach, Gary Johnson, encouraged his team to stay over fall break, “I hope you see this as a positive experience in the way we get to spend some time together, serve others and not have to miss classes to do it.”
On Friday, the volleyball team traveled to the University of West Alabama, coming up just short losing in five sets to the host, UWA. The Lady Bulldogs were led by Savannah Hughes, a senior exercise science major, with ten kills.
Saturday brought a different result for the team as the Lady Bulldogs returned to Jackson with a win against Mississippi College. Union won in four sets led by Mallory Baker, a senior exercise science major, who had 11 kills, three aces and four blocks.
“Our team really rallied together and played as a team, and that’s how we were able to pull out the win,” said Baker.
The men’s and women’s soccer teams also traveled to Mississippi to play Mississippi College on Friday. The games that were scheduled for Sunday at Delta State were canceled due to weather.
The women’s team lost to Mississippi College 5-1. Danya Horchi, sophomore biology major, scored her first goal of the season, as it was the lone goal for the Lady Bulldogs.
The men’s team also fell to Mississippi College, losing another close conference game 4-5. Goals were scored by Alex Pratt (2), senior marketing major, Paul Langford, sophomore engineering major, and Lucas Lopes, freshman business administration major.
“We came back to take the lead 4-3 with five minutes left in the game. Then the other team scored their two final goals in the last five minutes to win,” said Pratt.
“We are one mistake away from winning almost every game. However, one thing that is special about our team is that we refuse to quit and let teams beat us. It is one thing to lose, but an entirely different thing to quit.” said Pratt. “We are there for each other whether we win or lose, and that is something that goes beyond soccer.”
