Big Spring releases 2020 Varsity Volleyball schedule featuring new rivals
The 2019 season ended in a disappointing fashion for the Big Spring Lady Steers when they finished with a record of 4-28 and failed to win a game at home the entire season. The 2020 Big Spring Volleyball schedule has been recently released and the coaching staff and players will now be able to focus on the upcoming season and what they can do to make sure it is not a repeat of last year.
Let us take a look at the schedule for the Lady Steers and what they can expect when they face-off against these teams this fall:
August 7: Scrimmage vs. Central (San Angelo Central)
Big Spring will start off their season with a scrimmage against one of the best 6A programs in all of West Texas. The Lady Steers traveled to San Angelo Central last season and lost 2-0 after losing the first set by a score of 25-13 and the second set 25-3.
This type of scrimmage to start of the season will show just how much the Lady Steers have grown since last year and will be a good measuring stick for them moving forward.
August 8: Scrimmage (Home)
The next day, Big Spring will return home to play another scrimmage against an opponent who has yet to be announced. At the start of the next week, the real schedule for the Lady Steers will begin.
August 11: Forsan/klondike Duel (Home)
An early-season tournament will kick-off the season for the Lady Steers when they will play both Forsan and Klondike on their home court. Big Spring was not matched up against either of these squads last year and therefore will get a fresh look at both of them.
August 14-15: Monahans Tournament (Monahans)
Later in the week, the Lady Steers will travel to Monahans to participate in a two-day tournament with several schools set to be in attendance. Big Spring played against the Monahans Lady Loboes twice last season and were unable to win one set against the impressive team from the southwest. In the first meeting, Big Spring was outscored 5015 through the two-set game but the second meeting was closer. Even though Monahans finished winning 3-0, the Lady Steers finished each set with double-digit points scored.
August 18: vs. Seminole/wink (Wink)
Big Spring will play both Seminole and Wink at an out-of-town mini-tournament. They did not play either team last season but Wink advanced all the way to the Final Four of the 2A State Tournament by winning an astronomical 40 games. They will be a great challenge for the Lady Steers and will be another barometer for Braswell and her team.
August 21-22: Nita Vannoy Tournament (San Angelo)
The Lady Steers will be participating in another early-season tournament against yet-to-be-announced opponents. Last season they recorded a 2-10 record when they played the game at a neutral site.
August 25: vs. Bronte (Home)
Braswell and her team will face-off with the 2A Bronte Lady Longhorns following a hectic first few weeks of the season. Bronte finished their 2019 season with a 30-13 record and made it through the first four rounds of the playoffs before losing to Water Valley. They will be making the transition to a younger roster and Big Spring will have a chance to capitalize on that in this home matchup.
August 27-29: Fillie Volleyball Festival (Denver City)
The third tournament of Big Spring's season will be played across three days in Denver City. This will also be their last regular season tournament of the season. If Big Spring is in good shape through the first month, they could begin to feel more and more confident in the weeks heading up to the district schedule.
September 1: vs. Colorado City (Colorado City)
The Lady Wolves seem to be an equally skilled team compared to the Lady Steers and the majority of their roster is filled up with underclassmen. This will be Big Spring's last game for one week and a win here could do wonders for the team's momentum and energy going into that week's practices.
September 8: vs. Wall (Wall)
Wall plays at the 3A level and ended last season with a 33-10 record and a third-round playoff exit. The Lady Hawks went 10-1 at home last year and will be hosting the Lady Steers in a midseason matchup. Wall had seven seniors graduate this spring so they will be in somewhat of a transition period to their younger, less-experienced players.
September 12: vs. Jim Ned (Home)
Jim Ned will be another top-notch 3A team for the Big Spring Lady Steers to match-up their skills against. Just like in basketball, the Lady Indians are one of the best teams in the area and will be a very tough matchup for Big Spring.
September 15: vs. Crane (Home)
Big Spring will play one of the schools that they picked up one of their four wins against last season. While traveling to Crane last year, the Lady Steers went in and beat them in four sets (3-1). It will be important for Big Spring to repeat that performance later this year.
September 19: vs. Clyde (Clyde)
In an exact scheduling situation to last year, Big Spring will play Clyde just a few days after facing Crane. After the Lady Steers won the first set last September, they continued to lose the next three sets in heartbreaking and extremely competitive fashion.
September 22: vs. Lamesa (Lamesa)
The Lady Golden Tornadoes defeated the Lady Steers 3-0 last season. This year, Big Spring will have to take the short trip to Lamesa and attempt to erase the bad taste in their mouths from last season's blowout loss.
DISTRICT GAMES BEGIN
September 26: vs. Estacado (Home)
Big Spring will open their district schedule against their new district rival Estacado. These two teams met last year and went all the way to five sets. In the game-deciding set, the Lady Matadors were able to just pull away and defeat Big Spring 15-12 (3-2 in sets). They will now take the trip down from Lubbock to play their equally-matched rival twice-a-year.
September 29: vs. Lake View (Lake View)
Braswell and her squad traveled to Lake View last season and left with a 3-0 shutout win. These two teams are district rivals but the Lady Steers seem to have the upper-hand heading into this season.
October 3: vs. Snyder (Home – Pink Out)
Big Spring was shutout across two matches last season by a score of 6-0. It will be the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month so Big Spring is asking all of their students and fans to fill the gym with their pink clothes.
October 6: vs. Levelland (Levelland)
The second new addition to the district is the Levelland Lady Lobos. In their one meeting last season, at a tournament, the Lady Lobos won both sets and outscored Big Spring by a total of 50-29. The Lady Steers will now have to prepare to compete against Levelland twice-a-year.
October 10: vs. Sweetwater (Home)
Big Spring lost both of their meetings to Sweetwater last season by a combined score of 6-1. They will have a chance to redeem themselves this fall when they try again to defeat the Lady Mustangs. Even though they lost both games last year, the gap between the two programs does not seem to be as wide as those results may make them seem.
October 13: vs. Estacado (Estacado)
Second game of the season against district rival.
October 17: vs. Lake View (Home)
Second game of the season against district rival.
October 20: vs. Snyder (Snyder)
Second game of the season against district rival.
October 24: vs. Levelland (Home – Senior Night)
Second game of the season against district rival and also Senior Night.
October 27: vs. Sweetwater (Sweetwater)
Second game of the season against district rival and also the last game of the regular season.
Compared to years past when the Lady Steers only needed to finish ahead of one other team in the district to qualify for the postseason, they will now need to finish ahead of two teams. It will be exciting to see just how much this young Big Spring team has improved and will continue to improve under the leadership of their second-year coach.
After only managing to win four games last season, these Lady Steers will be looking to push their amount of wins into the double-digits. Big Spring only had three seniors graduate and will be returning 75 percent of their Varsity roster from last season. If those girls are able to progress through the summer, then Big Spring could have a competitive team when school starts back up.
With summer workouts starting on Monday and these girls ready to get back in the gym, the two-month countdown to the first game of the season starts now.