Delayed in the fall before ultimately being pushed back to the spring, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff volleyball program will finally open its 2020-21 season in their home opener Sunday, Jan. 24, in conference play versus Texas Southern at noon, and Monday, Jan. 25, against Prairie View at 12:30 p.m.
The games will be video streamed free of charge at uapblionsroar.com/live and on the free UAPB Athletics App.
The season will consist of 13 regular-season matches, 11 of which are Southwestern Athletic Conference contests. At the end of the regular season, the top teams in the conference will advance to the SWAC tournament, March 26-28, in Birmingham, Alabama, where an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship is on the line.
After opening at home against Texas Southern and Prairie View, UAPB heads to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a road match Sun. Jan. 31, against Southern U., before returning home in a non-conference matchup Fri., Feb. 5, against Philander Smith.
"With the season being pushed back due to covid-19, we are excited to be back on the court as a team and play the game we love," said UAPB second-year head coach Chelsey Lucas. "The fact we're jumping straight to conference play with no preseason can be a little challenging because preseason games give our young ladies more playing time and help them develop. But overall, as a team, we are excited to start off playing two of the toughest teams in the conference, because this will give us the ability to make adjustments as the season goes on and to play on a higher level when we step on the court."
UAPB was picked sixth in the SWAC preseason poll, increasing Lucas's second preseason at the helm.
In her first season at UAPB, Lucas took a team picked to finish eighth in the SWAC 2019 preseason poll and brought the Lady Lions back to the conference tournament for the first time since 2017.
The Lady Lions will be adding seven talented newcomers to add with eight returnees, which includes two SWAC First-Team All-Conference student-athletes, junior Blocker of the Year Haley Gomez and senior outside hitter Kaila Robinson.
Gomez led her team in total blocks (90) while also contributing 45 digs to go along with 229 kills. The Eastvale, Calif. native was a key contributor for a Lady Lions team that concluded the season with an impressive 5-2 record at home. Gomez had a career game with eight blocks against Texas Southern.
Robinson was third on the team in kills, with a total of (199), and collected 43 assists, 15 blocks, and 26 serving aces. She also finished the regular season with six games in double-digits in kills for UAPB. Robinson had her career game with 13 kills, 14 points against Prairie View.
UAPB volleyball joins both men's and women's basketball teams as UAPB athletic programs competing in the spring but are not allowing fans to attend home games.
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