By: Frank John Mills
This fall Stevenson Women’s Volleyball achieved an elite level when they reached their ninth straight Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth championship game! A championship program from inception, the Mustangs added to their legacy but came up barely short losing to Eastern University 15-13 in the climactic title game, and losing the sets three-two.
“Obviously, we were all disappointed when we came within two points to win the championship game,” senior Mackenzie Blevins said. “However, we had one goal going into that game besides winning and we accomplished it. We talked about staying together as a team no matter how the game went, and we did exactly that.”
That goal became hard to achieve when the Mustangs went down by more than 11 points at one time but, Blevins said, “we still held each other’s heads up.”
Persistence was the key.
“We never gave up and we stuck together to fight through those five sets,” Blevins said. The senior played a pertinent role for the Stang’s season success as a two-time MAC Commonwealth Player of the week in 2021. She posted 569 assists, 62 service aces, and 231 digs on the season. In thirty-two matches, the women’s team posted a remarkable twenty-six and six record on the year and dominated their competition throughout the entire season.
Senior Captain, Lauryn Davis stated, “I think the amount of talent on our team separates us from the competition. Most teams have starters and there is a clear difference between them and the bench players. On our team, there is so much talent that you really cannot differentiate between our starters and bench. This gives us an advantage in practice because we are able to play against people who are around our same skill level and can challenge us to be better.”
The Lady Mustangs had one door closed and another door opened and with exciting news. The women’s team is headed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament!
“It feels amazing to make it into the NCAA tournament,” Blevins said. “We feel that our hard work from the entire season finally paid off. We are all so grateful to be able to play in this tournament and we are ready to end this season playing as hard as we can. We are definitely not taking this opportunity for granted and all working hard in practice this next week leading up to our first game!”
The Mustangs remain persistent and optimistic about their chances in the NCAAs. And why not? From season to season, they expect to win.