Home Crowd Energizes Women's Volleyball to a Win

By Bryant Marks
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, VA -- Richard Bland College of William & Mary Women's Volleyball team uses the roar of the crowd's cheers to complete the sweep, 3-0, against the Regent University Royals on Tuesday.

With this victory, the Statesmen now sit at 3-2 on the season and look to carry this momentum into Florida this weekend where they will compete in the FSCJ Tournament of Champions in Jacksonville, Florida from September 13-14.  In this tournament, the team will see competition outside of the region that will call upon new challenges to be met and surpassed.

After going .500 in their first four games of the season, the Statesmen come out and make a Statesmen Statement in their fifth game here at Statesmen Hall.  The team took the match 3-0 over their opponent and looked locked and focused while doing it.  A large part of the Statesmen's success tonight can be credited to how lively and excited the home crowd was during the match.  The crowd was louder than ever tonight. Stomping, cheering, yelling, and completing the wave successfully were just a small sample of how the crowd was involved for the Statesmen women tonight.  

Along with that, Sophomore captain, Ayanna Swan, made her season debut tonight and did not miss a beat when hitting the court.  Swan completed the match with 18 kills, 3 blocks, & 7 digs and some of her slams fired the crowd up more than they already were.  It was not just a one-woman show in the match, though.  It was a full team effort and victory for Richard Bland as every active member of the team saw action today.  The team compiled a season-high for blocks with 17 blocks while also cutting down on total errors committed.  Emma Lazerson added a little bit of everything in tonight too with 11 kills, 5 blocks, 12 digs, & 2 aces along with Anna Ney, who had 18 assists, 3 digs, & 3 aces.

Assistant Coach Bryant Marks said, "This was the most I had ever heard out of the crowd in my two years here and I loved every bit of it!  The team sure did not let all that cheering go to waste and they greatly appreciated the crowd's support.  We need that same energy, though, when we face off against Spartanburg Methodist in our first regional game of the season next Friday."

The Statesmen's next home game is against the Pioneers of Spartanburg Methodist, Friday, September 20, at 6 pm home here at Statesmen Hall.  Be there to cheer the team on!