By By: BEKKA OXLEY
Staff Writer
@bekka_oxley
A fresh season has begun for IU South Bend’s lady Titans and they are ready to be the team to beat.
So far this season, they have experienced success, going 3-1 in the University of Michigan-Dearborn Earlybird Tournament.
Head coach Jamie Ashmore-Pott, who has been coaching the team for four seasons, said that the wins and losses at the tournament were team-oriented.
“We worked well as a team and we figured out how to play well together as a team really well, too. On and off the court, everyone was cheering, excited and pushing each other,” Ashmore-Pott said.
The team is looking forward to more successes this year as they continue into their season.
According to Ashmore-Pott, this year’s team is different from teams in the past because all the girls have meshed well together and have gotten along with one another since day one.
“This group has already formed such a good bond that we haven’t had to spend as much time doing outside team bonding that we have in the past,” Ashmore-Pott said. “They really are a good group that became friends from the beginning.”
Sisters Krystle and Melanie Troyer, both seniors on the team, agreed that their team’s chemistry is a lot stronger this year compared to previous years.
“We trust each other on the court, so we are able to gel well, play well together and dig up more balls than we would if we didn’t have that kind of trust,” Krystle Troyer said.
Even though the team has a lot of strengths this season, they also have some challenges ahead.
“I would say we have a tough conference and our goal is to win the tournament, so we will keep pushing game by game,” Melanie Troyer said.
The sisters both said that they were excited for the Bethel game this week because their sister, Amanda Troyer, is a senior on the Pilots team.
Ashmore-Pott said that this year’s team will be exciting to watch and that spectators can expect to see a lot of energy on the court.
“They are really volleyball-oriented in the fact that it’s going to be fast-paced and high energy,” Ashmore-Pott said. “They won’t get outworked. It’ll be fun to watch them chasing the volleyballs down and never giving up on the ball.”
The team’s next game will be at home versus Bethel College on Wednesday, Sep. 3 at 7 p.m.
