For most teams, a season is judged strictly by wins and losses. However, the UTD women’s volleyball squad is not the average team.
The inaugural season for the Lady Comets is well under away, and although the team has a losing record, there is still plenty to watch.
“We have had a tough time thus far,” said Coach Marci Sanders. “But we have a lot of good players and have built a really great foundation.”
After dropping the opener to Texas Wesleyan University, the team participated in the Texas A&M Kingsville Tournament. The team lost all four of the matches, but the Comets remain optimistic. “We are very team orientated,” Sanders said. “We will keep progressing and eventually the wins will come.”
Indeed the wins did come, at the Austin College Tournament. The team and coach Sanders scored their first-ever collegiate victory against Mary Hardin-Baylor and followed that up with back-to-back victories against Hendrix College and Letourneau University.
“We didn’t have much time to enjoy the victory,” Sanders said. “We fought some tough battles, and the girls executed really well.”
The Austin tournament ended with the Comets losing to UT Tyler. That was followed by a close loss at home to powerhouse East Texas Baptist University in five games.
“This season has been a learning experience, we sometimes go through a slight downfall later in the match,” Sanders said. Experience and learning quickly will be paramount, as the 12-member team has four freshman, two sophomores and six juniors, but no seniors.
The Comets have been picked to finish fourth in the six-team East Division of the ASC.
The ranking could be attributed to the fact that while the team may be new, several of the girls have some high school and junior college volleyball experience. One such player is junior co-captain Michelle Moos.
“We do have a new team,” Moos said. “But the statistics keep getting better, the practices keep getting harder and we keep improving.”
The team’s other two co-captains are junior Nicole McCoy and freshman Brittany Fowler.
“The girls chose the team’s captains, not based on classifications, but ability,” Sanders said.
“We have already seen a big improvement, and I think if we keep the team together, it could be something special,” she said.
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