Volume 59, Issue 12  - November 6, 2006

Scorpions in one word: impressive
By Arath Lopez
Sports Editor

Luis F. Peña/Collegian

Middle blocker Mariana Naldi tips the ball during Wednesday’s volleyball practice at the Manuel B. Garza Gym. The Scorpions will compete in the Red River Athletic Conference this weekend at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie.

In August the question for the UTB/TSC Women’s Volleyball team was if it would be competitive in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. After all, the team was comprised of a new coach and a mix of new and experienced players who had never played together.

The tournament opener loss against Houston Baptist University seems too distant now. In its first game, the team learned what competition in the Red River Athletic Conference would be like. Since then, the team has greatly improved and dominated opponents, winning 17 of the last 19 matches.

The Scorpions finished the season unbeaten at home, dropping only three games in the eight-match home stand.

As of press time, the Scorpions are in second place in the RRAC with an 8-1 record (22-10 overall) and heading to the conference tournament hosted by Southwestern Assemblies of God University.

“We are using this week to rest some players that are recovering from injuries,” Head Coach Bruce Atkinson said. “If we play our game we should do well against them. We just need to focus match by match; I still think we can beat any of the teams in the conference if we play our game. There are a couple of teams we need to play at the top of our level to be able to have success but I know we can do it.”

The winner of the conference tournament gets an automatic berth in the NAIA Region XI Tournament Nov.17-18.   

The team finished the regular season action with conference matches against Texas College last Friday and Paul Quinn College on Saturday.

Conference match results were not available at press time.

On Oct. 28, the Scorpions won the Trinity University River City Tournament facing the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III competition.

After losing to Trinity University at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Labor Day Classic on Sept.1, the Scorpions edged the Tigers in a five-game match, 30-27, 14-30, 31-29, 24-30 and 15-13. The Trinity Tigers started the tournament ranked fifth in the nation and slipped to seventh after the loss to the Scorpions.

“We are just trying to work on our game plan,” Atkinson said. “We still need to work on the intensity, on keeping the ball off the floor. We seem to handle the teams that hit the ball harder well, but with teams that tip a lot we struggle a little, so we need to be ready for both.”

Team leaders against the Tigers were middle blocker Greta Billerbeck with 16 kills, middle blocker Lauren Bayer and outside hitter Bridgette Longoria had 12 each and outside hitter Katie Japp finished with 11 kills and 26 digs.

At the River City Tournament, the Scorpions beat Concordia University 30-23, 30-27 and 30-24; Randolph Macon College, 25-30, 30-20, 30-24 and 30-20; and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 30-13, 30-25 and 30-24.