The Bison volleyball team faced a tough opening weekend in Athens, OH, as it competed against Iowa State, Ohio and Eastern Illinois.
“The team reported to campus on August 6th to begin our preseason training,” said interim head coach Jeremy Young. “Everyone practiced really well, especially with such an unexpected head coach change. We’ve had a couple injuries that have forced us to shuffle our plans, but it’s still early in the season, and we’ve got time to keep getting better.”
On Saturday, Aug. 30, the Bison lost to Iowa State in three sets, then dropped to Ohio 4-1. On Sunday, Aug. 31, the Bison fought hard in a nail-biting five-set match, where they ultimately lost to Eastern Illinois.
The Bison took their first match of the season against a power-conference opponent: Iowa State. The first set proved tough for both teams as the rallies went back and forth. The Orange and Blue held on, but ultimately ended the set short, 25-21. After the first set, the Cyclones took a straight run to sweep the next two sets, 25-9 and 25-20.
Later on Saturday, the Bison faced Ohio, the host of the invitational. Bri Frazilus ’26 led the team with eight digs and 11 kills. The Orange and Blue kept afloat with the Bobcats, but ultimately lost the first two sets 23-25 and 21-25, respectively. In the third, the Bison fell behind at first, but came back with a four-point scoring streak to win the set. Despite their best efforts, however, Ohio came back to take the fourth, giving the Bison their second loss of the weekend.
Eastern Illinois took on the Bison in their third challenge of the season, and proved to be the closest match for the team. The Orange & Blue asserted dominance early by taking the first set, 25-19.
The match proved to be a real volley between teams, as each took turns winning sets, where Sidney Shaffer ’27 and Tijana Kostic ’26 picked up 14 and 12 kills for the team, respectively. After Eastern Illinois won the fourth set to push a fifth, the Bison never picked up momentum and took their third loss.
“One of our biggest takeaways from the weekend is that we want to compete with anyone, but we’ve also got to play how we’ve been practicing even when the bright lights and scoreboard are on,” Coach Young shared. “We have a lot of game experience on the roster, but this is a new team, and we’re still figuring out our identity and how to win together.”
The Bison’s next game will be today Sept. 5, at the University of North Carolina.
