University of Georgia Athletics
Day In The Life: Volleyball
August 13, 2015 | Volleyball
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- To get through Wednesday at the Georgia volleyball arena, and it wasn't exactly an atypical preseason day, it helps to like your teammates, love the game and be determined to help the Bulldogs rise and shine in the SEC. How else will you get through about six hours on the court?
For the second time this month, the Frierson Files spent the day with some Bulldogs in the preseason. Last Friday it was the women's soccer team -- you can read about that here: http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/081015aab.html -- and Wednesday it was volleyball's turn. (Cross country is coming up Monday.)
Georgia is entering its fifth season under coach Lizzy Stemke and coming off a disappointing 2014, which ended with a 14-17 record, including 5-13 in SEC play. Seven of the Bulldogs' players are freshmen, so there's plenty of teaching going on at practice. And Wednesday, with a three-hour session in the morning and another in the afternoon, there was plenty of time for it.
What follows is a recap of a long, busy day for the Bulldogs:
8:59 a.m. -- After breakfast in "the den," the players' lounge at the volleyball facility in the Ramsey Center, the 16 Bulldogs, dressed in black shorts and grey Georgia volleyball t-shirts, are lined up on the back right corner of the court. Eight are on one side of the corner and eight on the other.
Stemke addresses them briefly, talking about the work to be done, and off they go.
9:01 a.m. -- The music comes on and the drills begin. When the bleachers are pushed all the way back on both sides, Georgia has three courts to work with during practice. All three will see plenty of use today.
9:19 a.m. -- Following nearly 20 minutes of not-too-strenuous drills, which covered some fundamentals and got the blood moving a bit, the team begins stretching. Stemke stretches with her team.
Throughout the day, Stemke and her coaching staff (associate head coach Josh Lauer, assistant Colleen Bayer and volunteer assistant Brian Muesenfetcher) will be just about as busy as their players. More on that later.
9:34 a.m. -- The drills resume on the three courts. Some involve players putting a stretchy band around their lower legs to force the players to keep their legs together and take short, quick steps, rather than long strides.
9:49 a.m. -- Players break off into pairs, standing no more than 10 feet apart, and work on bumps, sets and hits. As they rally back and forth, in a mix of offense and defense, they make playing this game look way easier it is.
10:01 a.m. -- The coaches are standing on large, square wooden boxes, which are used throughout practice, and smacking balls over the net at players. Flexibility and quick reflexes are a must to get under the ball before it hits the court. It does look like a wonderful stress relieving exercise for the coaches.
10:14 a.m. -- Stemke is on a court working with freshman Sarah Lagler-Clark and sophomore Kendall Kazor on sets. There is a hoop with a net attached (the apparatus is like a big butterfly net with the pole stuck in the ground) and they're trying to send the set into the net. It is to this point the drill that looks like the most fun, like something you'd see at Dave & Buster's.
10:51 a.m. -- We're nearly two hours into practice and the drills and the teaching continue at a pretty fast pace.
11:15 a.m. -- At the end of another short break, Amanda Dachs and Kendell Kazor work on their volleyball juggling. Progress will need to be made to make a career of it.
11:22 a.m. -- More drills are underway, including Lauer standing about 12 feet from the players in his group and rifling balls at them. Again, quick reflexes are a must. But how else are you going to prepare for opponents hitting balls toward you with full force unless someone does just that?
11:27 a.m. -- What stands out at this point is how many of the drills require the Bulldogs to make plays on the ball while on the move. Forward and back, side to side, jumping or diving, players are hustling all over the court.
11:42 a.m. -- In some 6-on-6 action, the players are sweating so much and going to the ground for so many balls that they're having to stop and dry the court after every other point.
12:03 p.m. -- The morning session ends with the players working on their serves. It's been a long practice but at no point have the Bulldogs looked like they're ready to head off for lunch.
"In club ball, you definitely have three-hour practices. When you come here as a freshman, you kind of are still feeling out our routine and you might use the clock as a reference for what's next," Dachs, a redshirt sophomore outside hitter, said after the morning practice. "For the older girls, I don't think we look at the clock until it's over. This is our time to get better and we have to take advantage of it."
The players break for lunch and whatever treatment they need from the trainers. They put their feet up and get some rest, which they're going to need because the day is far from complete.
2:57 p.m. -- The team is back out on the court, now dressed in black shorts and black Georgia t-shirts. Practice essentially picks up where it left off in the morning.
3:04 p.m. -- The players are essentially doing the volleyball version of pepper, standing near each other and passing the ball back and forth.
3:08 p.m. -- In what looks like a piece of performance art, but is really a defensive drill, Stemke has a full side of six players practicing without a ball. Each player has her movements, where she's supposed to be based on what the other team would be doing.
3:13 p.m. -- On one court players are working on high bumps on the move, which is a bit like hitting a high two-handed backyard on the go -- not an easy shot to hit. On another court players are working on their blocking technique.
3:15 p.m. -- Hula hoops are used at times throughout practice as targets. Is it possible that competitive volleyball is keeping the hula hoop industry alive?
"It zones our focus in a little bit more," Stemke said. "Certainly for defense and for passing, we don't want to just get the ball up. We want to get it to a spot. And certainly for serving we want to zone the focus in."
3:20 p.m. -- Stemke is calling out plays and instructions and you realize that volleyball, like many other sports, has its own language that only those in the thick of it will understand.
"I think volleyball across the country, there's certain key words that people have that are slightly different. I think when you get to the college level, the game's a lot more strategic than people sometimes think," Stemke said following the afternoon practice. "To get the defensive systems is something that does take a long time and we're slowly incorporating freshmen into that system. They've been doing this for five days and it does take a lot of rehashing and communication."
3:32 p.m. -- The amount of diving for balls you see in a match is nothing compared to what the players, especially those in the back row, do during practice. How junior Elle McCord isn't just one big bruise at this point is a mystery.
3:48 p.m. -- There are fast-paced blocking drills happening on two courts. Players are quickly going side to side, jumping up for one block, then another, then back again. This also looks like fun.
4:01 p.m. -- The final hour of practice for the day has begun and the blocking drills continue. Lauer and Muesenfetcher are smacking balls across the net and the players have to block four in a row to complete the drill. It's the first drill that has teammates watching and cheering, like getting through it is a rite of passage.
4:25 p.m. -- For the first time all day the hitters up front are really hitting. To this point there have been soft taps across the net, but now some firepower is on display.
4:34 p.m. -- It's 6 on 6 and the scoreboard is in use. Points are awarded for kills by the offensive side and taken away for errors.
4:48 p.m. -- The errors seem to be outpacing the kills and the players huddle together on their own for a pep talk. It's a moment that makes Stemke proud.
"They stopped the drill there. I didn't stop it, they stopped it," she said. "That's exciting that this early in the season they're taking such ownership."
5:06 p.m. -- Seriously, McCord has on knee pads but with the number of times the rest of her body winds up crashing to the court she needs a full-body suit. Maybe something like folks wear when training attack dogs.
5:17 p.m. -- Practice has finally come to an end. The level of play picked up after the players' huddle and the session ended on a mostly positive note. When the players are back lined up in the right corner of the court, Stemke asks them to assess practice; where do the Dogs need to improve and what did they do well? It's a frank exchange of opinions and ideas.
Stemke tells them that for the first time since camp began last week they looked "exhausted," which explained some of the lackluster play toward the end.
The end of Wednesday's practice wasn't the end of the Bulldogs' day. They did yoga afterward, followed by dinner and a team meeting. The good news for the players is that there was no practice Thursday, only a morning visit to Howard B. Stroud Elementary School to spend time with some local children.
Georgia opens its season at home against Wofford on Aug. 28, in the Benson Hospitality Invitational.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.
