This is an entry in my volleyball coaching log for the 2021-22 season for the Medaille College women.

Been a while since my last log entry for the women. Honestly, there hasn’t been all that much to report. Now that the men’s season is done, let me catch things up.

Roster

One of the developments of the last couple months is that one of the players I expected to lose for the 2022 season is likely to be sticking around. She’s a student-athlete who is actually graduating early, but she’s now going to grad school at Medaille. As a result, she’ll be carrying on with the team, so long as her schedule permits (which it should). That puts us on 6 expected returners.

Recruiting

I mentioned in the last entry that we had 5 official commits and one verbal. That verbal has since turned into an official commit, giving us 6 additions. We have a new verbal commit in the form of a transfer. She’d come in as an academic sophomore, though hasn’t yet used any athletic eligibility. I’m just waiting on her deposit to make it official.

We also have a few others pending commitments. One is the teammate of an already committed recruit. Another is friends with one of our outgoing players (we’re working on her campus visit). A third just on Monday visited from Puerto Rico.

Unfortunately, we lost a girl who would have been really nice addition. She really wanted to come to Medaille, but family finances forced her to go elsewhere for at least a year. Maybe we’ll get her as a transfer later.

Academic honors

Last week the conference released the Academic All-Conference list for this year. We put five players on the team for 2021-22. That’s up from four in 2020-21.

Scheduling

Unfortunately, two of the matches I had scheduled for the 2022 season had the plugged pulled on them on the other end. That’s left me scrambling to fill them. I’m still working on that.

Training

I know individuals have been working out on a regular basis. As a group they also put in some open gym time. More of that is on the calendar. With our small numbers, and 1-2 playing softball, practices are a challenge now that we can do our non-traditional season. I told them that running open gyms with members of the men’s team is probably the most productive option. I expect to see more of that moving forward.

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John Forman
John Forman

John is currently the Talent Strategy Manager (oversees the national teams) and Indoor Performance Director for Volleyball England, as well as Global Director for Volleyball for Nation Academy. His volleyball coaching experience includes all three NCAA divisions, plus Junior College, in the US; university and club teams in the UK; professional coaching in Sweden; and both coaching and club management at the Juniors level. He's also been a visiting coach at national team, professional club, and juniors programs in several countries. Learn more on his bio page.

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