In a series of tournaments called The Battle for the Boot, university volleyball teams from all over the state will play at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Beginning today, Sept. 14, 2023 at 7 p.m. and lasting through Saturday, Sept. 16 at noon, this series of tournaments features NSU, Southeastern University, University of Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech University, and Southern University and A&M College.
Each school gets the chance to host a weekend tournament, giving each team the chance to play a match closer to home, free of the worry about traveling somewhere else or finding a different tournament at another school.
This tournament is not an ordinary volleyball tournament.
“While it is called a tournament, there isn’t a ‘winner’ or ‘loser’. Each team plays each other one time during the weekend, but there isn’t a bracket and a “champion” like a traditional tournament,” Brad Welborn, the assistant sports information director at NSU, said. “Even if one team wins all their matches, they are not named winners of the tournament. It’s more of a round-robin weekend but it’s just easier to call it a tournament.”
Despite the idea of no “winner” or “loser”, the volleyball girls have been working hard for these upcoming games.
“We [go through] conditioning and strength training that helps to keep our bodies healthy, but more importantly, mental preparation is key,” Amina Attra, Junior setter, said.
After all they have done to prepare, the team is ready for their dedication to pay off as they play at home.
“This weekend we get to showcase what we’ve learned playing against the bigger teams and hopefully come out on top,” Makenna Tryon, freshman outside hitter, said.
For the team, each game is an opportunity to grow and improve on their abilities.
“We want to win games,” Attra said. “But the key is to improve upon our last performance.”
This Thursday, the team is playing Southeastern for the first conference game.
“We all expect to come out with wins this weekend, but we’ve had a huge focus on our game against Southeastern on Thursday. This will kick off conference play for us, so doing well against them is crucial,” Tryon said.
In addition to this, their game on Friday at 7 p.m. is against Louisiana Tech, a big rivalry for the NSU Volleyball team, and their game on Saturday is against ULM.
“I think we’re all excited to get back out on the court, especially with the tournament being held at home in Prather,” Tyron said. “We’re hoping to have a crowd at our games.”
The Battle for the Boot is the perfect opportunity to watch some good volleyball and support the hard-working, dedicated girls on the NSU volleyball team.
The cost for an all-tournament pass is $25 and $10 for a day pass, but NSU students get in free.
To purchase tickets or for information on other upcoming games, visit nsudemons.com.
