With the regular season completed, the women’s volleyball team (16-8, 7-1 GWC) heads into the Great West Conference tournament on a three-game win streak and hold a share of the GWC title. Tied for first place with Houston Baptist in the conference standings, the Wolverines expect a strong showing in this year’s tournament — something the lady Wolverines have a good chance of obtaining this year.
“Winning the Great West Conference Tournament has been something that has alluded us these past three years,” said head coach Sam Atoa when speaking Wednesday at the Wolverine Club Luncheon held at the UCCU Center.
The University of North Dakota has won the tournament for the past three seasons, but they have since moved on to the Big Sky Conference. Hopefully, this move will increase UVU’s chances of securing the title.
Atoa was light-hearted with his comments during the lunch, saying, “I am not sure what our record is, but I do know we have won more games than we have lost, and I am told that is a good thing.”
The crowd chuckled as he continued with praise of the team.
“We have done a lot of good things this year, and we have put ourselves in a position to do well in the tournament,” Atoa said. “The girls have done a good job of staying healthy and not getting sick, and have been diligent to be in the position that they are and we have prepared ourselves to be successful.”
A big part of the success of the team is in large to the team’s only senior, Erica Nish. Nish was named the Great West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for her outstanding performance in last week’s games against New Jersey Institute of Technology and Chicago State. Nish put down 26 kills for the Wolverines in their final two road games, twelve of which came against NJIT, helping the ladies secure a share of the GWC title.
The award was the final weekly award of the 2012 season and the first of Nish’s season. Nish was also awarded for her excellence during the Wolverine Club Luncheon.
The GWC Tournament will be hosted by the Wolverines from Nov. 16-17 in the PE Building. The second-seeded Wolverines will first serve in the tournament at 5 p.m. against the third-seeded Broncs of Texas-Pan American. In the two meetings between the schools this season, the Wolverines are 2-0 and have outpaced the Broncs, six out of the eight total sets. Come Friday, the ladies will see if they can make it a perfect sweep.
