 When it's said that there's nowhere to go but up, it's often an exaggeration. But that's the case for the Bemidji State volleyball team after going 0-20 in the conference last year. They've got a chip on their shoulders. The Beavers are coming off a disappointing 3-26 season where they know they didn't play up to their standards. We did not have the season we wanted to have last year. We've got a lot to prove. We're still a young team but we're growing and we're developing. They graduated no seniors last year, which allowed the team to jump right back into the swing of things. I mean we've all been here. We've all played the game. We know our conference. We have the core group and it's been consistent because we haven't had seniors. Team chemistry is awesome. It's awesome to have everyone back here and just building new relationships with the freshman. Everyone back plus the new freshman mean there's a lot of miles to feed and playing time is at a premium. We're all pushing each other to be the best. I think this is the best competition we've had my three years here and it's awesome to see that and everyone's fighting for a starting spot for playing time and it's awesome to see. The team's motto of rise up is motivating them to stay consistent and perform at the top of their abilities no matter what. There's times where we would play really well in the beginning and kind of fall off at the end and our goal this year is to just rise up and rise up to every single location that comes and just be ready for anything that's thrown at us. We've really been focusing on shaking it off and not letting one point or one day or one situation really try to ruin your day or ruin that practice or game or the mood. So rising up to the occasion and we can only go up from here. The Beavers begin their season next weekend at the Wisconsin Parkside Tournament. Home opener is on September 8th. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.