Composure and remaining levelheaded during nerve-racking moments helped the St. John’s volleyball team win its first two conference games this weekend against Georgetown and Villanova.

The team believes Big East to be the most important games because it determines your standing in the Big East. Having a good record is vital in sports; it forces opponents to show you respect.

The girls entered this weekend a bit tense knowing that the games would be the most important thus far this season.
Last year, we had trouble dealing with pressure. I can confidently now say that we are a changed team.

I say this because when our team entered the match against Georgetown, we were composed. Players would make a mistake and shake it off — a noticeable difference from last year where, if a mistake was made, the girls would lose focus for the remainder of the match.

Throughout the entirety of the Georgetown match, the girls played with confidence and we swept the match.

However, the game against Villanova was a different story.

While sitting on the bench, I observe things that the players don’t take notice of while the game is going on; and I could tell we were anxious.

We ended up having a nail-biting match, but the only reason we went to five games was because we were having issues dealing with the pressure the match was throwing at us.

The reason we won was because, in the end, we embraced the pressure instead of shying away from it.

Remaining calm while playing in tense matches is going to be a real test for us as we move forward. From here on out, we will only be playing conference games and we have to be ready.