This is an entry in my volleyball coaching log for 2016-17.
This was the last week of our non-traditional season. That means our last week where we could put in a total of 20 hours. Unfortunately, that was cut a bit because we had the annual year-end sports banquet on Wednesday when we would otherwise have had team practice.
The major development influencing things was the birth of the head coach’s baby late the prior week. Unfortunately, a c-section was required. That means very light duty while she recovers from the procedure. Fortunately, it’s a part of year when the time out of the office doesn’t hurt much. She’ll have plenty of time to get back up to full speed ahead of pre-season.
Still, that means I had to handle the on-campus stuff – coaching and administration. One of those duties was doing a recording for the sports banquet. Sports Information needed me to talk about our nominee for one of the awards. I thought it was just an audio recording, but not so much! They videoed me after a morning beach practice. I had a zip hoodie on. Very stylish! A friend told me I was like Patriots football coach Bill Belichick. 🙂
Not everything is so glamorous, of course. I also had to chase players up about grade checks and doing their year-end physicals. There’s stuff for Argentina planning as well, and getting incoming players sorted out.
Training
Monday’s team practice included a pair of recruits visiting campus. The session was almost completely game play. We wanted to continue the focus on playing the seams, defensive tenacity, playing around the block, and the block being stable.
I had them start out with Brazilian 2-ball as a fun, competitive warm-up. We haven’t played that in a while. From there it was a progression of small-sided games, ending in 6 v 6. It started with Winners Back Court 3s. From there we shifted to Speedball 3s with the three setters in their own rotation, and everyone else in four teams of two. I opted for narrow court (about 2/3rds) to increase rallies, but to still require defenders to play around the block.
After that we shifted to Winners 4s. This was also narrow court, though a little bigger than the prior game. We made it small enough that two players could just about block the width of the net. The two back court players then worked on playing around the block and in the seams.
Practice finished with 6s. I set it up with one setter playing back row on one side. One of the others set front row on the other side, with the third playing defense in Position 1. We had three pin hitters, plus a DS that we sometimes use as a hitter in training. They split time in two OH positions an one OPP. We played several short games (mainly to 9) so I could flip the hitters and setters and round, and let the DS’s switch between 5 and 6.
Tuesday’s sand sessions followed our regular pattern. That meant a lot of ball-handling, especially in terms of shot control. In support of our indoor focus, we also concentrated a lot of defensive reading. It’s been fun watching the players improve on the sand. When we started, they really struggled just to put the ball in the court when attacking or serving. Now we’re seeing some really challenging serves, legit hard swings, and lots of smart shots. Importantly, that stuff has also carried over into their indoor play, which is the whole point.
Thursday they played their last day of doubles competition in round-robin fashion. Friday was out final indoor team session of the 5-week period. It followed a similar pattern to Monday’s, though with fewer bodies. That mandated 5 v 5 play rather than 6 v 6.
Banquet
The annual sports banquet was about what you’d expect. These events have a pretty standard pattern. We didn’t have anyone win one of the two primary awards, but had several players earn academic recognition. It was actually interesting. Three of our players made Dean’s List (3.50-3.74 GPA on a 4.0 scale), one was Provost’s Honor Roll (3.75-3.99), and three more were President’s Honor Roll (4.0). That’s nearly half the team!
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