Union Women’s Volleyball: Growing Together While Playing to Secure a Spot in Conference

Coming up on the last two weeks of the volleyball season, the Lady Bulldogs have worked hard and competed to the best of their abilities in order to gain a secure spot in the post-season tournament in the Gulf South Conference (GSC).

Last year, the ladies had fallen just short of the top eight, but this year is different. Currently resting at rank number eight, the team has had seventeen losses and eight wins throughout this season so far.

Some of their wins have included Edward Waters University (3-0),  University of Arkansas at Monticello (3-1) and Christian Brother’s University (3-2).

With just having created a win streak of three from the games they played last week, and having two more games coming up this weekend, the team is hoping to secure the 8th spot.

The Lady Bulldogs have worked hard, practicing Monday through Friday for at least two hours a day. During these practices, the team has continuously worked hard on different skills, and have been reviewing their film to figure out what could be better for each of the coming games.

The team has been fighting hard to clinch a spot in the GSC tournament, but unfortunately the team is currently down a few players due to injuries. Even with this drawback, they will not give up.

“We don’t have a lot of subs that can happen,” head coach Kristen Blackburn, said. “The six that are on, are the six that are playing.”

Another thing Blackburn makes clear is that it isn’t all about winning, and that the ranking isn’t where they should be focused on.

“We are not focusing on the wins and losses,” Blackburn said. “While winning is important, it’s not going to define who you are. If I do mention any ranking or any wins and losses, it’s to help put them back in check.”

Blackburn revealed that last year she was focused on the wins and losses, which affected the rest of the team. This year, she has a different approach which involves being more relational and being more consistent as a coach.

“I’m thinking about opportunities to make our culture better and to make my relationship with them better,” Blackburn said. “I’m human, I’m not perfect, and if I expect them to be consistent in their play and their attitude and their effort, then I also need to do the same thing.”

Interestingly, Blackburn was not the only one who noticed the team’s dynamic. One of Blackburn’s players, Vanja Stefanovic, a senior business management major and international student from Belgrade, Serbia, had also noticed some shifts.

Earlier in the season, the Lady Bulldogs had been shown multiple losses in a row with a few wins here and there. But through the losses, Stefanovic has shared a problem that she had to recognize the team was having.

“We get to 20 points and then we stop playing because we think it’s over, even though we still need those five points to finish the set,” Stefanovic said. “It was like a mental battle. During the second half of the season, when we started playing the teams again for the second time, we were finally playing like we should.”

On top of the mentality, there were also bound to be high pressure situations; yet through Blackburn’s help and through different techniques used, the team was able to find ways to prepare themselves. 

Blackburn brought up that these ladies have been using the games that they have lost as a way to learn lessons. They have created a culture where they don’t dwell on the bad outcome but are willing to try and make themselves stronger in the future games. 

“I don’t want them to hang their heads, anything, because that loss is ultimately going to carry over into the practices or other games, and that doesn’t need to happen,” Blackburn said. “they’re starting to play with more consistency and they’re playing more together.” 

The turnaround from losses to wins started to happen when the team began using small goals throughout the game. These goals consisted of simple tasks, such as getting three blocks in per set, or if they got aced, trying to hit the next ball.

“Once you set those little goals for every game, you put your focus on that,” Stefanovic said.  “I feel like as a team, we have confidence going into this weekend. We need to use these two practices before we leave to get ready and work on things that are gonna work in the games.”

Throughout Stefanovic’s time at Union, something that had grown stronger compared to last season was their team culture. 

“We’ve been trying to rebuild it, Stefanovic said. “We have our four core values, which are faith, selflessness, grit, and gratitude.”

With having these core values it allows them to focus on how to embody these words, whether it’s through a game or behind the scenes. Something the team does that helps their team bonding is by anonymously voting on who has exemplified one of the core values. 

“We really have worked on our team culture and being a family,” Stefanovic said. “I think that helps when we recognize each other’s accomplishments.”

Another thing that Stefanovic has revealed was that another major change with the team is their attitude. Originally it was for practicing sake. Now the team has grown as a whole and have changed their mindset.

“We come to practice because we get to come to practice, not because we have to,” Stefanovic said. “This year’s practice has definitely been more enjoyable.”

Looking forward, the Lady Bulldogs will play their next games away against University of Alabama Huntsville on Friday and the University of Montevallo on Saturday, in hopes of bringing home the clinched GSC tournament spot.

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