XULA Volleyball spikes into the NAIA
November 1, 2022
When you think about sports at an HBCU what sports do you think of?
Your first thoughts might be football – being in the stands on a Saturday night watching each team fighting to reach the end zone with a roaring crowd, cheerleaders, and band in a stadium.
More unique to Xavier, thoughts draw of the Convocation Center where our basketball team plays as the focal point of our Homecoming. A Xavier sports team that you should think of has six players on the court with whistles blaring and a ball flying over a net separating the Gold Rush from their opposition – the women’s volleyball team.
The women’s volleyball team at Xavier has been one of the highest performing sports at Xavier for over a decade and has their sights set on their 12th consecutive conference championship.
The volleyball team has dominated the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference since 2011, winning the conference championship ten years in a row after being in the conference for 40 years. The team was fit to clinch another conference title in the GCAC but in July of 2021 they switched to the Red River Athletic Conference. Debuting in the RRAC they struck gold, taking the conference championship against the Lady of Our Lake in a five-set battle, 25-22, 23-25, 25-12, 22-25, and 15-4.
They would finish with a record of 14-6 and a hitting percentage of 0.216.
“Our goals are the same, the conference we play in does not matter. The end goal is to win the conference and first round, to go to Nationals,” said Angela Egonu, a senior and outside hitter of the team.
Xavier has made their presence known at the conference this season performing with the same determination and consistency as last season with a record of (15-6) and (10-1) in the Red River Athletic Conference as of Oct. 22, 2022.
“As our coach said, sometimes our biggest competition is our own team,” Egonu said. “At the end of the day whatever we bring to practice will translate into the games we play.”
Last season as they moved onto the first round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament the Gold Rush was eliminated by Life University in a three-set match (26-28, 18-25, 22-25). But they would avenge themselves this season as they beat them in a three-set battle on Life University’s home court (27-25, 25-20, 25- 15) on Aug. 26.
“We want to go to Iowa for the NAIA tournament,” said Kennedy Wade, the junior outside hitter and co-captain, after their back-to-back match sweep against Texas College on Sept. 17, 2022.
In preseason, Xavier volleyball was voted as No. 1 in the RRAC coaches’ poll for the second straight year. The poll was precise as the team’s tenacity has been shown in gameplay and accolades. Six players on the squad; Emi Riglioni, Kennedy Wade, Sydney Murray, Linda Mungai, Semira Blair, and Kennedy Mack have all won RRAC players of the week this season.
Mungai has won the award four times this season for Defender of the Week. Followed by Kennedy Wade, a three-time recipient of Attacker of the Week. Emi Riglioni and Semira Blair both received awards for Setters of the Week and Sydney Murray, for Attacker of the Week and Kennedy Mack for Defender of the Week.
“Well, I think we have good depth on this team,” six-year head coach Pat Kendrick points out after their match win against Texas A&M Texarkana, on Oct. 7.
“We’ve got a number of people we can call on to do different things, so you know the program is growing and again we’re recruiting really good players. We’ve got good players on the team and we’re training hard and so things are going well,” Coach Kendrick said.
After the water damage that occurred in the Convocation Center early last year, the volleyball team’s home games have been moved to the University of New Orleans Human Performance Center.
“It’s a little rougher when we’re off campus here at UNO but we appreciate them letting us use the gym,” Kendrick said. “But we just want student support, faculty support, and you know for everybody in the Xavier community to know that we do have a good team. We’ve had a lot of success for doing well this year and we want their support,” she said.
Though the team misses the Convocation Center, the jumbotron, and being close to their community, they are dedicated to making the best of their situation and are not letting a location change get them off their game.
“I hope that Coach Kendrick and the volleyball team will continue the streak of wins and conference championships,” said Xavier’s athletic director Nathan Cochran.
“Additionally, I hope the team advances to the final rounds of the NAIA National Volleyball Tournament. The volleyball team has handled the adversity of not being able to play at home very well, and I am incredibly proud of their success,” Cochran added.
As the Gold Rush continues with their season, they hope to push onto the NAIA with the RRAC conference tournament beginning on Nov. 11.
