As the volleyball season continues to go on strong, the players and coaches do their best to maintain a high Badger pride spirit.
“When we go to a game and see someone that we know we make sure to have Badger spirit because it also helps us as a team and work better together,” sophomore Ysabella Swain said.
Practice started Aug. 5, during practices the players work on every needed skill in order to improve their endurance and strengths.
“It works on all the skills of the game and to help their muscles train to do the correct forms,” assistant volleyball coach Chandler Hail. “We then go into the more ball handling and fundamental drills and then we work on drills specific to things that we need to get better at from the prior game. We also look into other team tendencies and try to practice and replicate based on that.”
According to varsity coach Christy Wiley, when players tryout coaches keep a watchful eye on skill set, attitude, effort and willingness to sacrifice for the team.
“To be a strong player you need to probably be a leader, have really good teamwork because it’s a team sport and you need to work together, be good with people, and be encouraging to others,” Swain said.
Volleyball can be considered a mentally hard sport and to be able to keep up with the fast paced environment, players need to work on their endurance physically and mentally.
“I think having a positive attitude towards everyone and not getting frustrated helps,” Swain said.
At the beginning of the year, coaches set goals for themselves and their teams to motivate them throughout the season.
“My goal is for each athlete is to improve fundamentally,” Hail said. “Another goal is for their IQ level of volleyball to grow, understanding their position on the court and be able to play together as a team.”
When a game ends in a loss, the team gets disheartened but learns how to cope and look at the brighter side.
“Normally we’ll go and talk about the game afterwards and just talk about what we could have done better, what we did good, and then we try to shake it off,” Swain said. “We go on the bus and listen to some music and stuff and try to just enjoy the ride home.”
Not only can student athletes learn the importance of practicing and putting in effort into their passion, but they can also learn valuable lessons that could be used day-to-day.
“Some valuable lessons I think my team has learned is that the way they respond to what is happening on the court can dramatically impact their play,” Hail said. “Every player has a role on and off the court and they are able to identify those. I also think they have learned to be able to have a purpose beyond themselves when playing the game of volleyball. They have learned that there’s always room to improve and they truly strive for improvement.”
