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A GREAT Start For UD Volleyball
A GREAT Start For UD Volleyball
UDBrian
Published by UDBrian
09-04-2016
A GREAT Start For UD Volleyball

The Flyers have played two successful weeks of the season and are now 7-0.

The season started with a tournament at Wright State University.
The Flyers opened their season with a 3-0 win against Toledo. They followed that with a 3-1 win against SIUE and a 3-0 win against Wright State. The teams in this tournament were good enough to punish the Flyers when they made mistakes which is exactly what you want.

The Flyers didn't have much time to practice following their first successful weekend because they played Miami of Ohio on Tuesday. Miami was expected to give the Flyers a tough match and they didn't disappoint. Miami outplayed the Flyers in set 1 and won it 25-19. After the first set the Flyers controlled the match winning the next three sets.

On Friday and Saturday the Flyers hosted the Dayton Invitational with three good teams playing.

On Friday night the Flyers squared off against Xavier which was a very good match. The Flyers won the first two sets but after intermission they had trouble just keeping the ball within the court. It wasn't one player, it was a team effort. But, toward the end of set 3 they began to play much better and gained momentum which would allow them to dominate set 4 25-19.

On Saturday afternoon the Flyers played against Northwestern which was expected to be a very tough match. They have a very good mix of talent at multiple positions. This was a great, close match, the best I have seen in a while.

The Flyers lost the first set before winning sets 2 and 3. Northwestern won set four and UD was victorious in set 5 15-11. This was a great match with runs by both teams. UD served really well in this match causing Northwestern to struggle out of system many times.

On Saturday evening the Flyers had about a three hour break before they faced Chattanooga. You definitely fear that some fatigue could set in which Tim Horsmon admitted after the match. But the Flyers continued their good play and won 3-0.

I enjoy watching teams improve. This team has improved in every facet of the game in only one week. The passing is better, the serving is better, the defense is better, the blocking is better, the setting is better and the hitting is better. That is a lot of improvement in only one week. It isn't a surprise because this staff is very good at improving players.

It all starts with serve receive because without good passing the setter is forced to set from bad angles which makes it difficult on the outside hitters. Margo is tremendous at serve receive. Maggie and Laura have also been doing a great job particularly this past weekend.

I thought the Flyers were a little soft covering shots in the middle of the court the first weekend but they have improved a lot in this area. There have been several plays where I said to myself "GREAT UP" and one by Maggie stood out. She was laughing after the play so she might have been a little surprised herself! But, there have been nice chicken wings or one fist ups by everyone playing in the back row

When the passes are better the setter can set the ball more quickly which helps a lot against a team like Northwestern which puts up a big double block if given time.

I have never seen so many successful serves in one weekend as I did this weekend. When you keep a team out of system your chances of winning go up exponentially.

On the offensive side it is very interesting because there have been many heroes. In one match it might be Amber and Kendyll. In another match it was Bruns (prefers her last name). In another match it was Jessica. In the last match it was Jamie.

It is a nice luxury to have players at every position who can provide good offense and the Flyers have it. The sets to the middles have worked very well and I really liked Jane setting Bruns and Jessica with low fast sets which they can turn into big hits.

You have probably heard or seen the improvements to the Frericks Center and Hausfeld Court. The court is named after Kacie Hausfeld who tragically died in a plane crash just outside of Dayton, Ohio. I knew Kacie and she was a sweetheart who "never lacked confidence" according to coach Kelly Sheffield.

Kacie's family made a huge contribution to Flyer Volleyball and they have added new luxurious locker rooms, video scoreboards, bucket seats in the lower arena and much more. To read the article at daytonflyers.com go to
http://daytonflyers.com/news/2016/8/...x?path=wvball#

This is a game changer for the program. When I asked Coach Horsmon about the impact of changes to the Frerick's Center he replied:

"The Frericks renovations are really unbelievable and I am excited for all of our fans to see them and our players to be able to play in the facility. I really don't have words to thank Lori and her family in what they have done here and all of their continues support. What a special family! To be able to honor Kacie and Tom this way is awesome. Every day we get in the gym we're not sure what makes more of an impact with all of the renovations that have been made. I have always loved this gym and the atmosphere that is created but it has just hit a completely new level. For both our current players and future Flyers,,,, I'm not sure you will find too many venues better!"

As I mentioned earlier I enjoy seeing players improve during the off season and during the season. Improvement has been very impressive under Tim and his staff. The raw talent was obvious at the Red/Blue scrimmage. So I asked Tim about how the team will improve with great competition.

"We take a lot of pride in developing our players. We of course always want to be competitive in our own gym, I'm a Baltimore Ravens fan and often hear John Harbaugh talk about iron sharpens iron and I am believer in that. I'm also a big Orioles fan and believe Buck Showalter is one of the best in the majors and he often eludes to "Want to". I talk about these two thing because our kids have to have that "want to" and I think we foster a very competitive gym where competition is embraced".

The team lost several senior leaders from last season and with no seniors that can be a tough transition but Tim isn't concerned about this.

"We have had and continue to have great young women in our program. Players are finding their roles and leadership positions within the group. You never replace what graduating players bring as they are always unique and this team is finding it's own identity and style and approach. We are excited to see these new players in their roles and how the freshmen intigrate and what they bring to the table".

As I have mentioned previously the team lost most of their offense from last season so this could be a concern. I did see a big change in the number of low fast shoot sets this past weekend and it wasn't a fluke.

"We obviously had a very dynamic group of seniors who led and were very skilled and experienced. Our system will be very similiar and we think we recruited players who would excel in this system. Jane in particular has become very efficient in this offense and makes players around her very good. I think you will continue to see an exciting offense with her at the helm. Both Megan and Brooke are also improving daily in running this offense and locating and decision making as it a very fast and tempo driven. Obviously you can't run this without great serve receivers and your first contact not being controlled putting a premium on those players".

As many of you know I believe that hard serving or accurately placing a serve is really important to keep teams out of their in system offense. So I asked Tim: There has been a lot of discussion about the Olympic teams and serve percentage. Can you tell us what your goals are for serving aggressively versus the number of errors? Do you break down the number of serves that take a team out of system as well as the number of aces versus errors? And what would bother you more during a critical time against a top opponent a player hitting it into the net serving aggressively or a player who hits a cream puff over just to get it in?

"Great question! Well to the Layman volleyball fan nothing seems more infuriating than missed serves! With that being said, statistically the next easiest way to lose points in volleyball are serves that end up as 3 passes and free balls. You have to serve tough at this level if you have any chance to win matches and beat good teams. We want to serve our float serves at 40 MPH and hybrids at 45 MPH and look to be at 93 efficiency which may lean a little on the high side, We are looking for 7 or less unforced errors as a rule of thumb abd holding opponents to 50% or less sideout efficiency which doesn't happen without great servers".

With an inexperienced team and many new players you wonder if the lineup is fixed or if it will be some mixed lineups as the season begins. This question was asked prior to the season starting.

"We have a group that we have an idea that will be on the floor this weekend. We will go as our serve receive and setting goes. Obviously Jane has a great grasp in setting our team and there is comfort level there. We run so fast that you really have to make good decisions and locate. Megan and Brook as I mentioned earlier continue to improve but don't have the same experience with this offense or setting the starting group. We look forward to seeing them enjoy this moment and this challenge."

I noticed a significant improvement in Maggie, Jess, Bruns, Laura, Brianna, Amber at the Red/Blue Scrimmage in the spring. They have continued to improve since that time. Tim has obviously noticed the same improvements.

"I really think several players improved last Spring and will really play well and just needed the opportunity to jump in. Our program is in good hands with the players in this program and they will continue to compete at a very high level I believe".

The Flyers are off to a great 7-0 start but beyond the perfect record it is important that they showed tremendous improvement in only one week. The next two weeks aren't easy either and Tim agreed when asked about the early season schedule.

"We are playing some great teams over the next month and there is so much parity in the A-10. I think we scheduled a solid competitive season and will have to play well to continue the successes we've had for over a decade. We will work hard to reach the expectations that are regularly in front of us".

As I mentioned on the UDPride board the goal is WIN, IMPROVE, REPEAT. The season is young but I feel good on my previous season prediction. If you enjoy watching a good young team improve this is going to be a fun one!

Many thanks to coach Horsmon for taking the time to answer these questions.
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  #1  
By Avid Flyer on 09-04-2016, 07:33 PM
Great write up about a great team, coach, players alike. Can't believe Alina is gone, where has the time gone; but Jessica Sloan is a great replacement. Following the team via the internet as I am in NJ and heading to West Texas for several weeks. Miss seeing the flyers in person but my projects put $$$ in my coffer so don't want to complain.

Only one correction, you wrote UD played Chattanooga Friday night, it was Saturday night

Keep up the good coverage of our Flyers.
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