Syd Bietz (19) leads Centre College in kills this season. (Chris Zollner Photo)
Sophomore Syd Bietz says the Centre College volleyball team put too much work into this season to let a loss to Berry in the Southern Athletic Association Tournament title game take away from its focus in its first NCAA Tournament experience.
Centre (22-6) will play UChicago Thursday at 2 p.m in Marietta, Ohio, after receiving an at-large bid based on its strong regular season play. The other half of the bracket has Wisconsin-Oshkosh versus Marymount (Virginia).
“It is a really rewarding feeling that all our hard work paid off,” said Bietz, who leads the team with 336 kills. “We deserved the NCAA bid. Obviously we didn’t get the outcome we wanted against Berry Sunday and it would have been nice to say we won the tournament championship but that loss does not define our historical season (Centre was the regular season conference champion). Now we have a really cool opportunity ahead of us.”
Bietz, the SAA Newcomer of the Year in 2023, said there was a “level of confidence” the Colonels would get the at-large bid.
“We beat so many good teams during the season. It’s hard for us to be down now because we don’t want to take this opportunity for granted. It’s the first time Centre has done this and is a really big moment for us and the culture we have built with this program,” Bietz said.
Coach Patrick Robidoux took over the program in 2019 and the program has steadily improved each year.
“I know he will do a good job preparing us for NCAA play. I am not worried. We are prepared,” she said. “We just need to play like we can. This is the first time we have ever got an extra week of volleyball here at Centre and we are really happy to be playing together.”
The Colonels had a raucous environment for Sunday’s home conference tournament title match and Bietz said the players noticed.
“We were feeling the environment big time. We could feel the love from families and friends there to support us,” the former Woodford County standout said. “It did get loud. We had to scream at each other just to hear during the match. It was pure heart and passion.”
Bietz has played in the Kentucky state high school volleyball tournament but anticipates the NCAA atmosphere being way different.
“This is an opportunity that doesn’t come to everyone. I think the NCAA will be very competitive and the caliber of play will also be higher. There will be more pressure and how we handle it is a big key to winning,” she said. “That game on Sunday (a four-set loss), we left it all out there. There were no regrets. We put it all out there. We have had an amazing season but we are not done. We want to add to what we have done already with our play in the NCAA.”
