Reid Arena in the newly renovated El Pomar will have many firsts throughout the upcoming seasons, but this weekend there will be a first in El Pomar’s long history.
For the first time, El Pomar will host the SCAC Women’s Volleyball Championship as rivals Austin College, Southwestern, Trinity, University of the South, and Centenary visit the Springs.
“It’s never been at CC, and to be a senior and have my last conference tournament be at home is amazing,” said senior Kate Squires. “This will allow us to have a huge advantage with the altitude and the crowd. We’ve always had great fans and hope that they’ll be here to cheer us on to hopefully the seniors’ third Conference Title. We’ve never hosted and we’ve never won three consecutive titles, it’s a year of firsts.”
“It will be very exciting and the Semifinals and Championship matches will offer some great volleyball,” Head Coach Rick Swan said. “We would love to see a lot of fan support for our match on Friday at 4:30.”
The players are hoping for a lot of fans.
“This is a great opportunity for them to come and watch awesome volleyball,” said senior Kate Squires. “I think what the Hockey and Women’s Soccer teams have over all the other CC teams is a large community involvement. It’s always a great feeling to look up into the stands and see little kids and their parents at the games, knowing that some day they want to come and wear these same jerseys in the future. I just hope that over the next few years the community will start attending more games.”
Despite the home court advantage, the tournament is fair game to all teams, Squires said.
“Everyone is [competitive], we can’t underestimate anyone,” Squires said. “The rest of our season depends on this weekend, and therefore, [we] have to take every game as the most important game yet.”
Luckily, she counts on all her teammates.
“What’s great about our team is that we win as a team,” Squires said. “So I expect everyone to be on their A-game and ready to do their part to contribute to our success. We can’t win without everyone there. I hope that they’ll know what it takes for us to make regionals this year and leave it all out on the court.”
Swan said that in his 15 years of coaching, he has never hosted such a big and important tournament.
“We are very excited to be playing at home in the new renovated gym with the opportunity to win our third consecutive SCAC Championship,” Head Coach Rick Swan said.
The tournament will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3. This is the first major event that will be held in the newly renovated Reid Arena and admission to the event is free. The team wins will have an automatic bid to the NCAA championships.
Ellie Cole
Guest Writer