The Georgia State volleyball team has had an up and down season so far. Last Thursday, a loss to Clemson put the team’s record at 3-7, last in their division. A few things have rattled the Panthers and could be why they’ve struggled early on this season. It’s a very “youthful” team, as sophomore Clara Bednarek described it.
13 of the players are underclassmen, including eight freshmen. Bednarek talked about her hopes for the team moving forward this season.
“I see the team as having a lot of young players, with a lot of youth coming in, and a few of them are starters,” Bednarek said. “Once it finally clicks for us, then we’ll be on our way, hopefully to a Conference Championship”.
In some of the Panthers matches, they’ve let some of the sets get away from them. It has often seemed the team has either started their matches slow or took too long to finish off their opponent.
In matches against North Florida, Davidson and Stetson, the Panthers stayed competitive through the matches just couldn’t sets were close throughout the whole match but couldn’t come out with the victory.
“We find a lot of success at the beginning of our sets, and we start really strong, but we realized at the middle of our sets is where we tamper off and allow the other team to come back,” Bednarek said.
The Panthers 3-7 record does not even tell the whole story on how much potential the team has and how they’re statistically near the top when it comes to statistics. They are tops in kills with 468, blocks with 79.5. These achievements are due to the efforts of senior middle blocker Meisheaia Griffin, who is third in the conference in total blocks with 44 and assists with 436.
Even in losses, the team has even performed well. In their loss to Stetson, the Panthers lost by only one point and had more kills than the Hatters, 59 to 57. The team has gained positive momentum over the last couple of weeks as they head into conference play, which begins September 23rd against The University of Louisiana Monroe.
They’ve won two of their last four matches, coming against Alcorn State University and Presbyterian College. In those victories, the team put together an impressive stat line, accumulating 88 kills, 13 blocks and 79 assists.
As the team prepares for conference play, Bednarek expects good things to come to the rest of the season. “We have a lot of talent on this team, and you’ll be seeing it showcased,” said Bednarek. The team still has a long way to go, but this highly talented team has all the tools to win a conference championship come November.
