The USA South Conference recognized Mary Baldwin’s Fighting Squirrels volleyball team for their exemplary sportsmanship throughout the 2023 fall sports season.
The USA South Conference has been recognizing teams with this conference-wide sportsmanship award since the 2004–05 academic year.
In addition to the team sportsmanship award, libero Jaisley Tibayan ‘27 was named to the all-conference sportsmanship team.
What’s a Libero?
The libero is the most unique position in college volleyball. They wear a different jersey from the rest of their team and usually don’t start on the court. Liberos step in to replace a teammate as a defensive specialist – NCAA rules explicitly prohibit the libero from “completing an attack hit.” Read more about this one-of-a-kind role on the NCAA website here.
“It’s just part of what I do,” Tibayan explained. “Sports can sometimes be a negative thing; we won’t like the outcome of every game, but we can always choose to be a good person.”
For the Fighting Squirrels, sportsmanship is a guiding force.
Tibayan continued: “There were a bunch of teams in the conference that could’ve gotten this award, and it’s always nice to be recognized for sportsmanship. Being a good person and a good teammate and opponent is what I would rather be known for.”
