Grizzly Volleyball learns valuable lessons at first tournament of season

The season didn't start as they had hoped, but the Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Volleyball team came home with some valuable lessons from its first tournament of the season.

The No. 3 Grizzlies went 1-4 at the UFirst Intermountain Invitational Tournament hosted by Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah, this past weekend. They opened with a 19-25, 22-25, 12-25 loss to Daytona State College Aug. 17.

 On Aug. 18, they defeated Central Wyoming College 25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 28-26 before falling to the host team 17-25, 16-25, 25-14, 15-25 later that same day.

On Aug. 19, the last day of the event, they fell to College of Southern Idaho 24-26, 20-25, 18-25 before dropping a five-set thriller to Snow College 20-25, 20-25, 25-15, 25-17, 15-17.

'We learned a lot about ourselves'

"We had a great weekend at the UFirst Intermountain Invitational. Even though we did not start the way we expected – winning games, we learned a lot about ourselves and how we need to put the pieces together," Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paty Figueiredo said.

"Unfortunately, Wiktoria Jakubik got hurt in our first match against Daytona, and we all felt it tremendously," the coach added. "Wiktoria was one of our starters, and her personality on the court pulled the team together and added a lot of excitement. We wish Wiktoria a speedy recovery and hope she can rejoin us as soon as possible."

Statistical leaders

Freshman outside hitter Rosa Brencic led the team in kills for the weekend with 52, while freshman setter Caroline Glatkowski led the team in assists with 95. Freshman middle blocker Maja Bochenek led the team in blocks with 14, and freshman libero Eduarda Portes led the team in digs with 45. 

"The team finished the weekend stronger," Figueiredo said. "We were able to see some leaders stepping out and helping the team in different ways. We had players playing different positions showing that we can be a versatile team. I am sure we all learned about ourselves, the things we need to work on and our strengths as a team."

Up next

The Grizzlies will return to the road this weekend to compete in the Jefferson College Classic in Hillsboro. They will face Iowa Western Community College at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25, and No. 2 Miami Dade College at 4 p.m. that same day.

On Saturday, they will play a rematch with College of Southern Idaho at 4 p.m.

For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, visit its website, MSUWPGrizzlies.com.