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For Immediate Release 5 September 2002
The
Southwest Baptist Bearcats take to the road for the second
of their three tournament road trips after going 4-0 in the
John Brown University tournament in Siloam Springs, Ark. SBU
visited Evangel University, Tuesday night and received their
first lost this season in four games, leaving SBU with a 4-1
record.
The Bearcats will make the trek to Edmond, Okla. to participate
in the Central Oklahoma Tournament, this weekend.
Head Coach
Mark Pryor looks to have improved play as his young team continues
to build a cohesive unit.
“Our
level of play will increase exponentially in Edmond this weekend,”
Pryor said.
SBU opens
the tourney against Dallas Baptist University (0-4) at 1:30
p.m., Friday September 6, followed by a 6:30 p.m. match with
Drury University (0-1). On Saturday the Bearcats face Colorado
School of Mines (0-4) at 10 am and Ouachita Baptist University
(0-1) at 4:30 p.m.
“Our opponents are going to be ready. Colorado School
of Mines have had historically pretty solid kids who can extend
a rally and capitalize on opponents’ mistakes. Ouachita
Baptist is a region team, and it is always important to play
well against teams within your region. Drury, although not
in our NCAA region is in our geographic region and they are
another team we always want to show well against. Dallas Baptist
University is a program on the rise. They start Division II
play this season as members of the Heartland Conference and
since they are from one of our recruiting areas, we must do
well against them. We lost to them in five games last year
16-14 and want to play harder and focus on doing the little
things that may lead us to win the close ones this year.
“My goal for this weekend is for the young players to
attract the eyes of others that will see us and recognize
us as a bigger, more athletic team, that is playing a better
brand of volleyball,” Pryor said. “As a team we
want to gain respect and playing against schools of similar
size and scope will improve to be a good test for us.”
The Bearcats open the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics
Association slate with a visit to Pittsburg State for a 7
p.m. match in John Lance Arena against the Gorillas.
“We look forward to starting the rugged MIAA schedule
on Wednesday, at Pittsburg State. But realize we have to take
each match one at a time and focus the match at hand then
move on,” Pryor said. “The teams in our conference
are a step-up from what we will see this weekend. In starting
off with Pittsburg State and Central Missouri State, two teams
projected to finish in the top three in conference, we will
have an opportunity to use these games as a measuring stick.
Regardless of the result, we will always compete and battle
as our youngsters learn how to lead our team to gaining respectability.”
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