Short-handed and inexperienced, the Shaw volleyball team showed that this season's team is more than capable of turning a few heads after competing in Winston-Salem this weekend.

With only six players on the roster, and four matches in 28 hours, the Lady Bears finished the first half of the Volleyball Roundup 0-4 but showed tremendous improvement by narrowing the margins of victory as the two-day event continued.

"For them to have done this well—I am very pleased," said first-year head coach Douglas Hunter. Coach Hunter went on to say, "We started with a bit of a handicap with only 6 players this weekend, we started off very shaky. A lot of girls didn't know what to do, how to get in the game, but that improved. We started to play better and communicate better, as a result of that we started to play better."

It didn't help the Lady Bears that their second match was against last season's conference champion, the Chowan Hawks. The Hawks defeated the Lady Bears by scores of 25-13, 25-12, and 25-7.  By the end of the meet, against Virginia Union, the Lady Bears still lost 3-0, but the game scores were 25-23, 25-18, and 28-26. 

The hard-nosed team, led by the junior outside hitter Sharetta Riggins , increased productivity dramatically culminating with a strong showing  in the match against the Lady Panthers. Riggins had a team high 10 kills and produced four digs, along with six assists.

Riggins got valuable assistance from  newcomers Jeneva Carner , Shandrea Thomas and Kennay Fleming, along with key backups Jade Bibb and Ashley Johnson. Thomas and Fleming, two basketball converts, showed that they can transition in to the volleyball game successfully. The two Lady Bears combined for nine kills and six digs. Most notably, Flemming had two aces, tying with teammate Jade Bibb to lead the team.

While Shaw dropped matches to both Elizabeth City State and Virginia State, their continual improvement through those matches gave Bear fans a glimpse into what this team is capable of as they prepare for their home opener Wednesday against Johnson C. Smith.

Coach Hunter said there are a few things that they needed to improve on from the weekend before heading in to Wednesday's match-up with Johnson C. Smith. "We need to have more specific skills improved, especially returning serve.  Right now we have two players covering the entire court on returns, and we have to get more players prepared to do that.  We have to control the ball better."

Considering the circumstances coming in to the weekend, the Lady Bears have what it takes to move forward and compete in the CIAA. The Lady Bears have the opportunity to show that improvement to the Bear Nation in their home opener this Wednesday, September 15 at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium at 6:00 p.m.

[Photos:  Jeneva Carner and Sharetta Riggins led an undermanned squad at the roundup.]