THE BISON TEAM Row I: M. Piech, C. Ginn, N.Trevino, A. Morrison, S. Veitenheimer, A. Kellum, M. Rosenbaum. Row 2: D. Burkert, M. Doby, L. Lackey, 1. Morrison, K. Kennedy, K. Westmoreland, K. Parks, J.Tepe, K. Giboney. >J.MONTGOMERV The weather was cool and windy when the Lady Bisons volleyball team arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, Aug. 31. Competing in the Aspen Hotels Invitational hosted by the University of Alaska gave the team a chance to play and sightsee in the Last Frontier State. With the second day of their arrival at their leisure, the women tested their courage as they went white water rafting down Six Mile Creek, about 45 minutes from Anchorage. After weathering the smaller rapids, the women passed a swim test and attacked the class five rapids, the most difficult level of rapids. "I'll never forget it," Veitenheimer said. "I think the fact that we are a team and we are used to working with each other helped a lot." The Lady Bisons met their first defeat of the season at the invitational Sept. 2 against Montana State University-Billings 3-0, followed by a 3-1 loss Sept. 3 against the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Giboney said the team did not expect the losses. "[The losses 1 were disappointing because we felt like both of those [games] were wins," he said. Following the initial losses, the team won two games against Lincoln Christian Sept. 3 and 4, winning 3-0 in both matches. Sophomore middle blocker Katie Westmoreland said the team had the talent but was not on top of its game. "As far as skill goes, we were OK, but we weren't communicating or playing well as a team that weekend," Westmoreland said. "But we worked on that and got better." Giboney said the invitational gave the team a chance to identify and fix problems. " After we got back from Alaska we went on a 16-game winning steak," Giboney said. "Mostly we tweaked our starting line up a little bit and tried to find out which rotations worked the best." The Lady Bisons placed third in the tournament and returned to Searcy Sept. 5. The team played 34 games and ended the season with a 28-6 record. The team was undefeated in the Gulf South Conference during regular season play. - AARON MILLER 283 - VOLLEYBALL
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