Once again, UTPB volleyball finds itself in a good spot entering Lone Star Conference play.
First-year head coach CJ Allard and his players are hopeful of continuing their success as they navigate through one of the most ruthless and difficult conferences in the NCAA Division II country.
The Falcons (7-2) will begin Lone Star Conference play with a 6 p.m. Thursday game against Eastern New Mexico (3-8) at Falcon Dome.
Last year, UTPB entered the conference portion of its season with a 9-2 showing, but struggled to keep up momentum and ended the season 17-10 overall, 8-8 in the LSC, which wasn’t enough to get into the conference tournament.
Right now, Allard is just focused on taking it one game at a time.
“I’m probably the worst coach when it comes to celebrating,” Allard said. “We win, we shake our opponent’s hand and then we go on to the next game … but every match matters, especially if you want to get that at-large bid. We’re starting to get into those rankings for the first time in program history. You just have to stay committed to the next game. Beat the team but expect to win. When we get the win, we shake their hands and worry about the next match.”
So its unsurprising that Allard is only worried about this Thursday’s game against the Greyhounds before the Falcons face defending national runner-up West Texas A&M at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s Eastern New Mexico and they’re in a great position,” Allard said. “They’re probably hoping that we’re only focused on West Texas A&M. But every minute today, tomorrow and Thursday is spent on Eastern New Mexico. We’re going to be prepared from a practice standpoint and prepared from a scouting standpoint. When that whistle blows on Thursday, we’ll be ready to take down Eastern New Mexico.”
After losing its first two games of the season, UTPB has since been on a winning run, recording victories against New Mexico Highlands (twice), Emmanuel University, Sul Ross State, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Texas A&M International and Lubbock Christian in nonconference tournaments.
UTPB currently sits in second in the Lone Star Conference standings behind Angelo State (10-1), based on its overall record.
Eastern New Mexico is coming off consecutive wins, having defeated Sul Ross State in four sets last Friday before closing out the week with a 3-2 win against Western New Mexico in a nonconference tournament.
Kennedi Wright leads the Falcons in kills with 88 total so far while Chyra Thompson has 76 and Gloria Geurin has 69.
Currently, UTPB is leading the conference in digs with 614. The team has recorded 88 blocks total, 2.59 average per set.
Still, there are things that Allard thinks his team can improve on.
“I still feel like we can be better with our first contact, our first serve,” Allard said. “We’re leading the conference in our hitting efficiency, but I think we can still be better. The more we can transition, the more often we can put our hitters in good positions.”
