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Brewton-Parker College senior hitter Alissa Vogt (center) leaps to make a left-side hit while sophomore hitter K.C. Cheshire (No. 13) moves toward the net in the Lady Barons' volleyball match Friday night against Brenau University at the BPC Student Activities Center in Mount Vernon. |
By Terry Gaston
MOUNT VERNON -- Brewton-Parker College volleyball coach
Jason Bryant's team played 19 of its first 20 matches on the road in
anticipation of the Oct. 1 opening of the college's new Student Activities
Center.
With a crowd of about 500 on hand to witness the SAC's
first event, the Lady Barons continued their success from September by posting a
three-game sweep of Wesleyan College.
"We had beaten them before, so our biggest thing is we
need to stay focused," said Bryant, whose team improved to 15-6 with the
30-15, 30-17, 30-16 victory. "Actually, Wesleyan has improved. They
returned our serves fairly decently.
"One of the things that helped us focus was the crowd,
the opening of new building. They were not about to lose focus tonight. It just
was great to see the crowd, to see the enthusiasm for the new place and for
everything that goes on in here.
"I can't help but believe that some of that enthusiasm
was for a team that has played 20 matches, and 19 of them on the road, and we
came out of that with a 14-6 record, and that's pretty impressive. I'm proud of
my girls, they're playing well and we're going to keep it rolling.
"I think I'm the happiest person in the world. Not
only do I have a good team, but I have a new facility, a new complex, a new
office and all of the coaches are together."
Sophomore K.C. Cheshire, an outside-middle hitter from
Marietta, said of playing in the Student Activities Center as opposed to Parker
Gymnasium: "It's totally different when you walk in here. The enthusiasm is
up and it's just better up here.
"It doesn't feel like it's home yet, but it will be
home one day. I think we'll get used to it," added Cheshire, who had been
named the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference's Player of the Week on Sept. 30.
The Lady Barons maintained their focus from their SAC
opener by scoring their second straight sweep at the center with a 3-0 win
Thursday over Claflin (S.C.) College.
"We played well. I was proud of them. We were able to
keep focused and do the job we had to do," said Bryant, whose team had
swept Claflin in Orangeburg, S.C., on Sept. 17. "They were a little
overmatched."
The Lady Barons then entertained Southern Wesleyan (S.C.)
University in a GACC match Saturday and won the first game 30-23.
But the Lady Warriors, unbeaten in their first three
conference matches, tied the match with a 30-25 win in the second game and took
the lead with a 30-27 win after Brewton-Parker had lead the third game 19-18.
The Lady Barons had a 29-28 lead in the fourth game, one
point away from forcing a decisive fifth game, but Southern Wesleyan forced a
side-out to tie the score and won the match 3-1 with two points on serve.
We played hard, a play here and a play there and you never
know," Bryant said. "The majority of the girls they have have won two
league titles. Not only do I think we can play with them but I think we can beat
them, which we did last year in the (GACC) tournament."
The 2-1 week left the Lady Barons with a 16-7 overall
record, three wins from tying the program's 19-win record set last season.
After visiting Spelman College in Atlanta for a
nonconference match Tuesday night, the Lady Barons return home to entertain
Brenau University at 7 p.m. Friday in a GACC match.
Brewton-Parker will play Saturday in a quadrangular at
Agnes Scott College in Decatur beginning at 11 a.m. Other teams in the
quadrangular are Judson College, a sister Baptist institution in Marion, Ala.,
and Oglethorpe University of Atlanta.
Brewton-Parker begins next week with a GACC match at
Georgia Southwestern State University in Albany at 7 p.m. Tuesday before playing
host to the BPC Invitational Tournament on Oct. 18-19.