Wildcats Drive for SIAC Men’s Volleyball Championship Gold Starts Thursday

4/19/2023 2:08:00 PM

By: Chris Myers

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – In the second edition of the event, the Wildcats are looking for some friendly confines to help with their post-season run for title gold. Fort Valley State starts its drive for an inaugural Conference crown when it hosts the 2023 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament Thursday and Friday.

In the first SIAC Tournament held on the campus, FVSU aims much higher in the second Conference Tournament from its fourth-place finish last spring where Central State outlasted Edward Waters, 3-2, for the first SIAC Championship played in Rock Hill, S.C.

The No. 4 seed Wildcats drive for championship gold begins in the six-team field's first match Thursday (April 20) in a 10 a.m. matchup against No. 5 seed Kentucky State. In the other opening round contest, No. 3 Benedict College faces No. 6 Morehouse College at 1 p.m.

In the Thursday night Semifinals, No. 1 seed Edward Waters University awaits the FVSU-KSU winner at 4 p.m. and No. 2 Central State battles the Benedict-Morehouse winner in the day's final match at 7 p.m. The Semifinal winners return to action on Friday afternoon (April 21) in a 1 p.m. Championship match.
------------------
2023 SIAC Men's Volleyball Championship
April 20-21
HPE Arena – Fort Valley, Ga.

FREE Admission

Tournament Central

FVSU Season Results
FVSU Season Stats
FVSU Roster
--------------------
Playing host to a Conference Championship event, FVSU Head Coach Larry Wrather and his players knows it means a lot to have the tournament on the home HPE Arena court.

"It means a lot and when you would look at it in a grand scope of things. I don't believe Fort Valley State has hosted a conference tournament championship ever. So, to be able to bring it into our own house and have our crowd in their home environment, it is a great experience to have for them (his team) to grow," noted Wrather.

Wrather's top two offensive players in outside hitters Jaxon Hicks and Isaiah Fedd, who lead the team with a combined 540 kills and 260 digs, know the importance of playing the tournament at home.

"It's very exciting not only to play in in front of your fans but also to be at home too. We couldn't ask for any better," points out Hicks. "Volleyball has been growing very fast at our school and just having all this support at home makes us happy and with the crowd involved helps us play better."

Fedd added, "I think it's good to play on our own court with the familiarity it brings."

After splitting their four matches in the SIAC Tournament last year in a then double-elimination format, FVSU will need to be ready to from the start in a now single-elimination event.

The Wildcats (7-19) finished SIAC play in the six-team regular season round-robin format with a 4-6 mark. FVSU swept their First-Round opponent, Kentucky State, and No. 6 Morehouse College by 3-0 matches in both meetings with the two teams.

FVSU did not enjoy the same success against the top three clubs where it did not record a victory. The Wildcats, though, took four of the six matches against them to five sets. The four five-set matches include the final meeting with each of Central State, Edward Waters and Benedict (with the first meeting also going five games) over the last two weeks in Fort Valley. In fact, FVSU enjoyed a 2-0 lead against Central State and 2-1 advantages in both the Edward Waters and Benedict contests before it fell by the 3-2 final for the three matches.

What will it take for FVSU to get past both Kentucky State and Edward Waters and make its first SIAC Championship appearance on Friday?

"It comes down to heart and grit, we do a lot of really good things on our side of the ball, and we just need to clean up the small things while limiting our unforced errors," said the Wildcat coach. "It's just continuously having a hard grit for every ball, every point matters."

Taking their guidance from Wrather, both Fedd and Hicks add their input on what they and their teammates will need to execute on the court to make it to Friday.

"We have to have the mindset of finishing strong regardless of situation in front of us and we have nothing to lose," added Fedd.
"Showing grit will be what it takes for us as we have to beat both Kentucky State and Edward Waters Thursday to make it to the championship," stressed the Chicago native Hicks. "This whole season our motto was "you vs you." It has always been this way and we have shown countless times that we have what it takes to make it all the way and now we have to show it."

FVSU will have to show its mettle and record its second set of back-to-back victories of the season to play for the league title. The Wildcats will have more experience than their all freshman lineup which took the court last spring.

"We know what it's like to play in the conference tournament having done so last year. The only difference really this year is it's not a double elimination format, but instead single elimination," explained Wrather. "The double matches last year fatigued our guys with having to play multiple matches in one day on back-to-back days. We also have both more depth on our side and some experience helps us to combat that this year."

Hicks, middle blocker Rashaun Wright, setter Justin Yates, outside hitter Oshane Farquharson and libero Jamil Scott lead the experienced sophomores on the roster. Fedd, middle blocker Taviian Martin, outside hitter Jacquee Taylor, setter Jose Gallardo and libero Diego Cardona are part of the list of newcomers to the Wildcat deeper lineup.

FVSU looks to use its added depth and talent on the roster and home HPE Arena crowd support for the winning combination to capture its first SIAC Championship crown.

-Wildcats-

Print Friendly Version

FVSU Athletics

Scoreboard

Wildcats Drive for SIAC Men’s Volleyball Championship Gold Starts Thursday