The Union University volleyball team started off the season strong with a 4-0 record in the Union University Volleyball Invitational last weekend.
The Lady Bulldogs played against Lindenwood and Florida Tech on Friday, Sept. 3rd at the Fred Delay Gymnasium. Union pulled out a win against Lindenwood 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-17, 17-15) and then defeated Florida Tech 3-1 (23-25, 25-10, 25-10, 25-19). The first day of the tournament left the team with a hitting percentage of .248 for the first match and .374 in the second.
Alyssa Tatsch, senior film studies and broadcast journalism double major, led the team during the first day of the tournament with 15 kills during the first match and 14 during the second.
“I’m just really excited to play with this team,” said Tatsch. “There is a lot of talent and a lot of heart and I am excited to see what we can do, especially since we had such a short season last year.”
The tournament began the first full season the Union volleyball team will play since the fall of 2019. They played an abbreviated season in the spring of 2021 because the pandemic prevented them from having a season in the fall of 2020. The team had to find ways to stay consistent and prepared, even when they were unable to play.
“To stay prepared, we encouraged our girls to play as much as possible in the off-season,” said head volleyball coach Darrin McClure. “We competed in very intense matches during the spring. That helped us knock off the rust from not playing last fall. Honestly, we just have really matured kids on this team. They love each other and want to work hard for each other.”
The Lady Bulldogs started off the second day of the tournament strong, beating Lane College 3-0 and then held off Truman State University to win 3-2.
The first set against Lane College was close with Union winning 25-22. The Lady Bulldogs then dominated in the second and third sets, winning 25-6 and 25-13. Union had 34 kills in the match.
“Our core offensive players are returners,” said McClure. “That’s a strength for us. We have a lot of experience on the court that has played a lot of games for us. Haley Ramsey and Alyssa Tatsch have played a lot of volleyball in the last three-and-a-half years. Likewise, Jordan Vick, Emily Grace, Laura Rose and Sydney Sample are returners that are critical to our success.”
Union finished the tournament late Saturday night with a five-set victory over Truman State. Many thought Union would make quick work of the game after winning the first two sets (25-22 and 25-20). However, Truman came back to win the third and fourth sets (24-26 and 18-25). The Lady Bulldogs pulled out the win in the fifth set with a score of 15-11.
Union will play again Friday, Sept. 10 at the Ray Thrasher Memorial Tournament in Nashville, hosted by Trevecca Nazarene University. Over the two-day tournament, the Lady Bulldogs will play Fisk University, Arkansas Monticello, Trevecca Nazarene and Erskine College.
Photo by Union Photo Project