Harrisburg, Ill. - Southeastern Illinois College volleyball returned to Deaton Gym on Saturday and Sunday for the First Annual Falcon Fury Kick Off Tournament. The two-day event featured six teams from Illinois, MIssouri, and Mississippi and 11 total games. The Falcons fared well, winning 3 of 4 matches.
On Saturday, SIC played back-to-back contests in the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. time slots against Region 24 foes Shawnee Community College and Frontier Community College. In the early match-up, SIC ran the table winning 3 sets to 0. In the 11 o'clock game, the Lady Falcons came out victorious again with a 3-1 showing against the Bobcats.
Head Coach Jon Watts was pleased with his team's effort in day one. "It didn't seem like we had any hiccups in communication today. This is our 16th or 17th day together so we've really put the work into it and it showed."
On day two, Coach Watts's group had another early morning test as they took on Itawamba Community College of Mississippi. ICC, who had swept a two-day event at Deaton Gym in 2022, came in to Sunday 2-0 after defeating Frontier and Wabash Valley on Saturday. The Falcons came in with energy on their home floor and defeated the Mississippi-power 3 sets to 1.
After a long-break, the Falcons finished the weekend against Great Rivers Athletic Conference power Wabash Valley. SIC showed fight early, but the long-weekend caught up as they eventually fell 3 sets to 0.
All 14 team members contributed throughout the weekend. Coach Watts was proud of how the group came together quickly. "With the addition of our 11 new athletes, I feel we have some of the best in southern Illinois (between our returners and newcomers.) I'm very happy we were able to get so many of them here at Southeastern."
The Falcons will look to build on their early momentum as they head to Lincoln Land Community College on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. match. Following Wednesday, the team will travel to East Central College for another two-day weekend tournament.
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