Volleyball club gearing up for regionals, championships

Pittsburg State University’s volleyball club is warming up for the Regional Tournament and the Regional Championship.  

According to junior in exercise science Lauren Esquibel and president of the volleyball club, the club began last semester and got a late start.  

“This is our first year actually having a club volleyball team at Pitt State and we have two tournaments. We are in the Western Conference and our first tournament is Feb. 23 at the University of Arkansas,” Esquibel said. “(The club started) last semester because we actually started later than the volleyball clubs are supposed to.”  

Due to insufficient funds, the Volleyball Club will only be competing in the Regional Tournament and the Championship.  

“We pay to be in a conference and with that comes with two games. So, our next tournament will be regionals and then nationals… But there are games that other universities usually host throughout the season and so we are always welcome to go to those. Since we are a new club, we do not really have the funds right now to be going to other tournaments, so we paid into this conference and we are going to go to those tournaments first for the year.”  

Club sports are different from team sports at Pitt State and other universities but that does not stop the volleyball team from practicing and helping the members of the volleyball club.  

“We practice two times a week,” Esquibel said. “We practice Mondays (and) Wednesdays at 8:30 at night. This is the only time all of us can get together. We have actually had some Pitt State girls from the volleyball team come and help us out and do some scrimmaging just because we do not have enough girls right now to do that on our own.”  

The club has been preparing for the upcoming matches and Esquibel is “looking forward” to seeing their practice during the competitions.  

“Honestly, I am just looking forward to seeing some competition,” Esquibel said. “It has been a while since I have played, and I think we will be a great competitor. I am not really sure where we stand compared to the other teams, but just to be able to play and see where all of our hours of practice have placed us amongst other teams.”  

There are not many members of the club so far, so it has been hard to get started, according to Esquibel.  

“… We have lost a couple players who just did not feel that it was fit for them or they actually got recruited to go other places, so we have not grown at all. It has actually been a struggle getting started,” Esquibel said.  

Esquibel is excited for the upcoming games and to represent Pitt State through the volleyball club.  

“I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity to play again and… we are excited to represent Pitt State,” Esquibel said.