The Javelina volleyball team ended off their conference season on a high note being the first Javelinas in history to make the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Tournament finals. The Javelinas went into this tournament with hopes of coming out with a win but fell short to a competitive match up against West Texas A&M University. A few outstanding players were honored with LSC and honorable mention awards at the Lone Star Conference awards banquet that was previously held. The athletes honored were Jeri Ficklen who was given All-Conference Honorable Mention, and both Jackie Alanis and Ayanna Jackson who were honored All-Conference first team for the second year back-to-back. “It feels great. We have all worked really hard throughout the season to get here, so it was a great feeling and seeing all our hard work pay off,” Jackson said. With the conference season done, the team was given the opportunity to proceed into the NCAA tournament this year for the first time since 2016. The Javelinas are proud of the outcome they have put out thus far and are eager to see their work continue to pay off with the tournament approaching. “It’s really freaking great, it’s fantastic, they deserve it” Head coach Tanya Allen said, “They’ve worked really hard and all the things we’ve been working on this semester are showing, this is a proud moment for me as a coach.” The ladies are going into the NCAA tournament with their game faces on and the intent to bring home a championship win this go round. “Our mindset is always that we want to compete hard and do our best to execute on both offense and defense,” Coach Allen said, “I don’t think that will change no matter how many times we go into this tournament, but we will do our best to keep this same energy.” Going into the tournament the Javelinas know the areas they must execute and excel in to keep their opponent on their toes. “We will need to serve touch and keep all of our opponents out of the system during regionals, this is the best way to be successful on defense against any tough opponent,” Assistant Coach Alexa Ruiz said. For more updates on their tournament and the outcome be sure to check out the Javelina Athletics website to keep up with their next move.
