On Friday September the 6th, the Bears traveled to the Lone Star state to face off against two NCCAA DII Southwest Region rivals, the Patriots of Arlington Baptist (Arlington, TX) and the Crusaders of Dallas Christian (Dallas, TX).

The first match was against the defending ACCA National Champions, Arlington Baptist. As the match began it was evident Arlington’s front court duo of  6’0″ Senior Amanda Carlson and 6’3″ Freshman Rosalyn Thorpe, would be a handful. The Bears dropped the first set 8-25. Even though the Bears were able to sustain some rallies in the second set, they still dropped the set 14-25. The third set, unfortunately, went the same as the first, and the Bears dropped the set 8-25 and the match in straight sets.

Statistically the Bears were led by Senior Sarah Sullivan with 6 kills, while Junior Danielle Gressel had 6 assist. Defensively, Senior Hannah Williams and Junior Kalyn Switzer added 6 digs a piece.

After the rough loss Friday night, the Bears traveled across town to take on the Crusaders of Dallas Christian on Saturday afternoon. The Bears came out ready to play and made the Crusaders earn every point. The match was well played by both sides with many long rallies but the Bears, however, found themselves falling short and losing again in straights sets, 15-25, 23-25, and 17-25.

Seniors Sarah Sullivan and Hannah Williams led the Bears with 9 and 7 kills respectively. They also added 6 blocks together. Junior setters Danielle Gressel and Kalyn Switzer led their team with 13 assists collectively. While Sophomore Lauren Wells added 8 digs defensively.

The Bears (0-5, 0-1) will be hosting NCCAA DII nationally ranked Manhattan Christian College (Manhattan, KS) on Tuesday, September 10th at 7:00PM CST in an MCCC match.