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No turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and all the other delicious sides for the Missouri State volleyball team…at least not on Thanksgiving.
“We’re all kind of past Thanksgiving,” said junior outside hitter Lily Johnson. “We’ve had our Thanksgiving meal and we’re ready to play some volleyball.”
The Bears had their annual Thanksgiving dinner a couple weeks ago on Sunday following the team’s Senior Weekend; the same time they locked up their fourth MVC regular season title.
Head coach Melissa Stokes and her 18 talented players hit the road for Cedar Falls, IA Wednesday. As the top seed, the Bears get a first round bye in the MVC Tournment, and will face the winner of the Southern Illinois/Illinois State game, Friday, 5:00 pm in the semifinals.
Missouri State is currently riding a 16-match winning streak, the longest conference streak in program history. They’re also top 50 in the RPI, which makes them all but a lock to reach their second straight NCAA Tournament. But despite that, this group doesn’t plan to take any chances.
“We don’t want to even think about the what-if-we-don’t-get the automatic bid, so right now we’re focused on just one game at a time so we can be at peace on Sunday,” said Johnson.
Goal one is to win the Valley tournament, but the ceiling for this team could be much higher.
“I want one of those banners (in Hammons Student Center) to say Sweet 16,” said Stokes. “I don’t think you can accomplish those things without talking about them to make them a reality. This group knew last year that we were going to have a special team.”
“It’s no longer enough for these girls to get to the tournament and say you went,” said Johnson. “We’re the kind of team that we can battle and compete and make it to the Sweet 16 and even further, and see what we can do from here.”
The NCAA announces its field on Sunday night at 8:00. The Bears will be on the edge of their seats to see where the next journey takes them.
But one thing is for sure, this is no ordinary Bears team.
“I’ve been here for five years now and I haven’t been on a team like this,” said senior Simone House. “It’s a great feeling to play with these girls and it’s been a lot of fun.”
