There were moments last fall when Mia Perales wondered if the daily grind that she and her UTSA volleyball teammates were putting themselves through would be worth it.

Each morning, the Roadrunners arrived at the Convocation Center. Each morning, they went through drills, or a weight-lifting session, or a scrimmage. Each morning, they didn’t know for sure if they would even get to play a season.

The coronavirus pandemic’s impact, as was the case in other aspects in the United States, was being felt in collegiate athletics. And as the days passed, and uncertainty lingered and a definitive answer was sought, Perales admitted she wondered if each swing, serve, block and dig was for naught.

An answer was delivered on Aug. 21, when Conference USA, like other conferences around the country, announced that the volleyball season would be postponed until the spring. UTSA had just completed its preseason training.

“It was disappointing because we had this momentum, we were building up to get ready to play, and to be told, ‘Sorry, you have to wait another five months to play,’ it did hurt a little bit,” said Perales, a junior setter and former Antonian standout. “But we knew that we were a young team, and this was definitely going to be beneficial for us in the long run, because we would get more time to practice with each other, get to know each other. It was a blessing in disguise from that standpoint.”

UTSA, Incarnate Word and Our Lady of the Lake open their spring seasons Friday. The Roadrunners play Texas-Rio Grande Valley in Corpus Christi, while Incarnate Word is at Prairie View A&M and Our Lady of the Lake hosts Jarvis Christian. St. Mary’s is schedule to open vs. Texas A&M International on Jan. 26, while Trinity’s campaign is slated to begin Feb. 13 at Austin College.

“The emotions are all there,” Incarnate Word coach Sam Dabbs Thomas said. “I think it’s more of the anticipation and excitement. Jan. 22, for every collegiate volleyball athlete, is a huge day.”

It was a day that seemed as if it was a long time in coming. Since August, coaches and athletes have stayed the course. They worked on getting better on the court, underwent weekly testing, and tried to adhere to protocols — all in hopes of being able to partake in a season.

“The fall was probably one of the most difficult times in my coaching tenure,” UTSA coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff said. “Because you were training, you were training, but nothing in sight. For the longest time, we did not know when we would have our next match; if we would have anything. The challenge was to keep them motivated to come in every day. We were very creative.”

Groff turned every moment into a competition. If the players were scheduled to lift weights on a given day, they might be broken up into teams and the goal would become to see which team or player could lift the most. The same approach was taking with serving drills, or conditioning or watching film to develop a scouting report.

“We took the mindset of not taking any opportunity for granted,” Perales said. “Any opportunity that we had to play, that we got to lift, that we got to work out, it’s something that we all appreciated a lot more. I definitely think there is some extra excitement. Obviously, there’s always excitement when you’re playing for the first time every year, but I definitely think there’s a different level of excitement.”

Incarnate Word shared the sentiment. Even in an abbreviated season, where players will retain their eligibility, and some schools played in the fall while others will play in the spring, the Cardinals’ aspirations are high.

“We talked about, ‘Do we want to play for something this year? Or are we going to take this as a trial year?’ Dabbs Thomas said. “My entire team was on board about taking it very serious and as it was a true year. I was very excited to hear that. We’re going to take all the safety precautions and protocols as possible, but it is going to be a day-to-day season. Things are going to come up. Kids are going to be contract traced. Kids are going to have positive tests. We’re going to have a lot of adversity, and we’re going to have to pivot and make sure that we are of sound mind to where we can compete. We’re going to control what we can control, and then we will just deal whatever kind of comes our way.”

St. Mary’s
Coach: Stephanie Armstrong
2019 record: 9-18 (3-15 in Lone Star Conference)
Top returners: Alissa Tolbert (192 kills, 194 digs); Julia Deais (113 kills, 55 total blocks); Catherine Cruz (374 digs)
The skinny: The Rattlers were hit hard by graduation, with only two seniors on the roster, but will look to bounce back with the influx of eight freshmen. St. Mary’s was picked to finish 11th in the 16-team LSC.
Season opener: St. Mary’s hosts Texas A&M International on Jan. 26.

Trinity
Coach: Julie Jenkins

2019 record: 37-5 (17-1 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference)

Top returners: Emily Ellis (AVCA second team All-American, AVCA All-South region, NCAA All-Tournament Team, first team All-SCAC); Avery Tuggle (AVCA second team All-American, AVCA All-South region, SCAC Player of the Year, first team All-SCAC, SCAC tournament MVP); Annie Rose Leggett (AVCA honorable mention All-South Region, first team All-SCAC).

The skinny: The Tigers return six starters, plus the libero, and 13 letterwinners from a squad that was one win shy of play for the NCAA Division III championship. Leading the way is outside hitter Avery Tuggle, who had 469 kills, 498 digs, 66 totals blocks and 46 aces. Tuggle headlines a deep roster that also includes Leggett (386 kills, 577 digs, 59 aces and 58 total blocks) and Ellis (342 kills, .415 hitting percentage, 152 total blocks).

Season opener: Feb. 13 at Austin College. Trinity’s home opener is Feb. 19 vs. Southwestern.

Our Lady of the Lake
Coach: Scott Mattera
2019 record: 19-7 (8-4 in Red River Athletic Conference)
Top returners: Anissa Tamez (614 assists, 22 aces); Alyssa Marquez (398 digs, 24 aces); Kalai Ketchens (140 kills, 21 aces)
The skinny: Our Lady of the Lake came within one win of capturing the RRAC tournament championship and should return plenty of firepower to make another run at the top prize.
Season opener: The Saints host Jarvis Christian on Jan. 22.

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1