The Norwich volleyball team has lost significant matches in past seasons; despite this, they have high hopes of hosting a quarterfinals match in the post season, according to the volleyball head coach.
In last year’s season the volleyball team had losses to Rivier College and Plymouth State College.
This year’s team has closed the gap and forced both teams into five-set matches.
“We’re off to a really strong start,” said Head Coach Amanda Cuiffo. “We had a great match against Rivier, who we have never taken a set from in the past.”
Thea Evens, 21, a senior communications major from Ruidoso, N.M., said, “Plymouth State came in with the attitude that they were just going to take us in three (sets).”
Both matches resulted in losses for Norwich but their closeness was as a result of the vast improvement of the team’s skill work.
“It’s a combination of both,” Cuiffo said, “the sports psychological piece, also really technical volleyball training.”
The athletes also attest to the camaraderie of the team.
Evens said, “(We’ve had) a huge improvement from last year, our team has meshed a lot better.”
The team still sees room for improvement in these tight, five-set matches. Some of the athletes agree that the team could be better conditioned.
“We’re conditioned, but not enough,” said Lindsey Hettmann, 20, a sophomore nursing major from Green Bay, Wis. “Towards the end everyone is tired and it’s just a fight.”
The team has been making changes in order to better attack the next part of the season. And the opposing teams are being scouted to see what their strengths and weaknesses are. Jessica Bielski, 21, a senior nursing major from Fallston, Md. said, “(We’re) gearing our practices to how we need to shut them down.”
The team and coach have realized that their conditioning has become an issue and they are making strides to improve it.
After the practice on Sunday, Oct. 10, Hettmann said, “Today’s practice was more running then we’ve ever had, because she (Cuiffo) realized that we need conditioning.”
The team will now be ready for its upcoming challenges of Johnson & Whales and Emerson. Both teams have a history of ranking in the top three of the conference.
The athletes say they would like more support from fans during home games. “It really does help if more people would come out to games, we feed off the energy,” said Keira Holmes, 21, a senior business management major from Los Angeles, Calif.
The volleyball team has been able to adapt to the challenges of the first part of the season and they have a very positive outlook on their vast improvement. “The good thing about our bench is that they are very dynamic players.” Cuiffo said. “And they have a great attitude about that,” she added.