What do our Fall Athletes do in the Spring?
As we kick off the spring semester with men and women’s basketball approaching conference as well as swim, let’s review what our fall sports do in the springtime to get ready for their next season. Soccer, men and women, have their WAC class two to three times a week for about one to one and a half hours at a time. The men are on the field one hundred percent of the time working on perfecting their ball skills as well as building teamwork to carry over into their fall season. Although the men do not have assigned gym workouts, many of them are in the weight room multiple times a week preparing for their upcoming season.
The women’s team does things a little different. They practice Monday through Wednesday each week consisting of two days out on the field and one in the weightroom collectively each for only an hour at a time. While on the field, the women are doing the things they cannot do while in season such as technical work, pattern play, and small sided, intense games that they simply do not have time for in the fall during season. In the weightroom the girls are split up into groups to lift together so as to stay connected while prioritizing the small amount of time that they have. Freshman Adele Bihler says “The practices are intense, we are honing our ball control skills on the field and lifting in the gym in order to prepare the team for the upcoming Fall season. Besides the 3 days we practice, it is encouraged to continue training either by yourself or with other teammates during the rest of the week in order to keep a consistent improvement.” Although fall is their main season, the Ladies have scheduled a spring scrimmage against LSUS for April 1st on LSUS’s home turf at one o’clock. The last matchup between these two teams resulted in LSUS being the victor 3-1. It will be a very beneficial game for the Ladies to see where they are at going into their fall season. There is also an Alumni game to be scheduled for this spring.
Our last fall sport is women’s volleyball. For the first bit of the spring, practices are weightroom based in the fit lead by the team's captains. They typically do three sessions a week that are quite intense. Every practice the team does, they do together but many of the ladies like to continue working out in the gym past the required amount. For the first two to three months this is all the girls do until around the beginning of March when they are free to begin practicing on the court in the fit. Although the girls do not have any spring games, every year there is a fundraiser that volleyball puts on, the Fours Tournament. Each girl creates a team of about four or five girls to compete in this tournament as a fundraiser of their choosing. Every year it is a big success as well as fun for all those involved.
Our winter sports are almost over but they have been doing some great things this year. Men’s basketball has twelve wins and is ranked third in the conference, barely behind Trinity having the same conference record but lacking in stats. Swim has been staying pretty high in the pact before heading off for conference at the beginning of February. As this season comes to a close, we are looking ahead to men’s lacrosse, softball, baseball, and track.
