Tweet
RH: Volleyball Season Started with Early Mornings
The Shockers returners organized, texted, taught, reserved gym time and grabbed knowledge from the coaches to pass on.
That was their role in turning around Wichita State volleyball over the summer.
The newcomers played a crucial role, too.
"None of them said no to being in the gym at 6 a.m.," junior libero Giorgia Civita said. "They always said 'Yes, Gio, I'm coming."
The returners insisted on a fresh start during summer workouts, starting by purposefully bonding with the newcomers and moving quickly to an insistence on intensity, smart volleyball and dedication to doing everything correctly.
"When we got here, there wasn't an awkward phase," freshman setter Kayce Litzau said. "They were right there, welcoming us, including us in everything. I feel like it really shows in practices, when we're hanging out in the locker room. We all want to be a cohesive group."
The returners organized dinners, highlighted by taco night, at the homes of returners. They went to Chicken N Pickle. They watched the 2007 movie "Superbad."
The transition to college volleyball is often a shock to even the most talented newcomers. Wichita State's unique language and systems add another level of complexity. Lamb normally redshirts most of his incoming class to give them a year to learn his system and grow physically stronger. This year, he will count on six, seven or more new faces to play.
Civita directed sessions on scramble defense and pushed the newcomers to handle unexpected plays and out-of-system balls.
"The goal for me was – when you play volleyball, you've got to think," she said. "I feel like a lot of girls are still learning that. They just do what someone told them to do, they don't think. If you don't learn how to think in volleyball, be smart, take the information they've given you, you'll never be able to play at a high level."
Taflinger wanted to make it clear that all the newcomers understood the importance of volleyball at Wichita State, a program more used to playing in the NCAA Tournament than last season's trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
"We all are here to play volleyball – I didn't come (from California) to just to be at Wichita State," she said. "Gio didn't come from Italy just to be in Wichita. We're here for a purpose. We're all going to be on the same page of 'This is why we're here and we're going to have a winning season.'"
Gio may be out for the year with her knee injury but her presence on this team will still be felt in a big way I think. It would appear that Gio and Megan have grabbed the reigns of team leaders.
Great article.
The Shockers returners organized, texted, taught, reserved gym time and grabbed knowledge from the coaches to pass on.
That was their role in turning around Wichita State volleyball over the summer.
The newcomers played a crucial role, too.
"None of them said no to being in the gym at 6 a.m.," junior libero Giorgia Civita said. "They always said 'Yes, Gio, I'm coming."
The returners insisted on a fresh start during summer workouts, starting by purposefully bonding with the newcomers and moving quickly to an insistence on intensity, smart volleyball and dedication to doing everything correctly.
"When we got here, there wasn't an awkward phase," freshman setter Kayce Litzau said. "They were right there, welcoming us, including us in everything. I feel like it really shows in practices, when we're hanging out in the locker room. We all want to be a cohesive group."
The returners organized dinners, highlighted by taco night, at the homes of returners. They went to Chicken N Pickle. They watched the 2007 movie "Superbad."
The transition to college volleyball is often a shock to even the most talented newcomers. Wichita State's unique language and systems add another level of complexity. Lamb normally redshirts most of his incoming class to give them a year to learn his system and grow physically stronger. This year, he will count on six, seven or more new faces to play.
Civita directed sessions on scramble defense and pushed the newcomers to handle unexpected plays and out-of-system balls.
"The goal for me was – when you play volleyball, you've got to think," she said. "I feel like a lot of girls are still learning that. They just do what someone told them to do, they don't think. If you don't learn how to think in volleyball, be smart, take the information they've given you, you'll never be able to play at a high level."
Taflinger wanted to make it clear that all the newcomers understood the importance of volleyball at Wichita State, a program more used to playing in the NCAA Tournament than last season's trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
"We all are here to play volleyball – I didn't come (from California) to just to be at Wichita State," she said. "Gio didn't come from Italy just to be in Wichita. We're here for a purpose. We're all going to be on the same page of 'This is why we're here and we're going to have a winning season.'"
Gio may be out for the year with her knee injury but her presence on this team will still be felt in a big way I think. It would appear that Gio and Megan have grabbed the reigns of team leaders.
Great article.
Comment