In a weekend of Halloween and homecoming, Ed Board is sureeveryone is looking for something to conjure up some Mustangspirit. Much focus continues to center on the winless footballteam, but this needless emphasis on less than successful Mustangscan be cured with a trip to Moody Coliseum for a home volleyballmatch.
Just over a week ago, the Mustangs were making team and schoolhistory by tearing down Fresno State in a nail-biting five-gamematch that brought the Mustang crowd to new levels of spirit andenthusiasm.
The Mustang volleyball team is 8-2 in conference play, with oneloss coming from the 23-1, No. 2-ranked Hawaii and the other fromRice. They presently lead the WAC Eastern Conference and hold theNo. 2 seed for the WAC tournament at the regular season’sclose. The team is seventh in the country defensively, a fact thatcontributed to them winning 11 of the last 13 games they haveplayed.
In its match against Hawaii, Mustang volleyball was called”a force to be reckoned with.” Right now, it is anoutstanding team on campus that can live up to that claim.
With the team’s success, accolades are given to playerslike outside hitter Jacky Niederstadt, who was named WAC player ofthe week for the last five days. Setter Jessica Mihm is leading theWAC in assists per game.
Every member of the volleyball team should be lauded for theefforts and accomplishments of the 2003 season.
The unprecedented success of the Mustang team is perfectlytimed, and just the thing needed to bolster SMU spirit.
But the team can’t do it alone.
Everyone on this campus talks about the lack of spirit and lowattendance to games, but they are always thinking specificallyabout football. Part of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors’ successlies in match attendance and fanfare. In SMU’s soleconference loss to Hawaii, 8,436 people attended to support theRainbow team.
We can hear you whining right now, “In Hawaii that’sone thing, but in the Lone Star state, football is king.”
But presently Ed Board is certain members of the Mustangvolleyball teamshould be named queens of the Moody court. Imaginewhat could happen at the next home game against Baylor at 7 p.m. onNov. 12, if 8, 436 screaming Mustangs showed up to support theteam. What could be more intimidating than “a force to bereckoned with” accompanied by an army of fanaticalsupport?
Ed Board would like to take the opportunity to issue a formalchallenge to the SMU community. In one of the final home games ofthe season, let the student body give the volleyball team acelebratory push into the WAC tournament. They will undoubtedlylive up to a season’s worth of building expectations for theprized team. Go Mustang volleyball!
