Volleyball Participates At CU's Fall Sports Media Day
August 03, 2019 | Volleyball
BOULDER – Colorado volleyball associate head coach Lee Maes joined sophomore setter Jenna Ewert and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Meegan Hart at CU Media Day Saturday.
The team opens the season Friday, Aug. 9, with reporting and begin practice shortly after. The Buffaloes begin in the CU Event Center Aug. 24 with the Black and Gold scrimmage and are back for the first match of the season Aug. 30 against Wyoming at home.
Colorado is coming off their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season with a 18-14 overall record after losing to South Carolina in the first round. CU closed on a strong note, winning six of its last nine matches in the Pac-12 to push into the tournament after a 10-10 Pac-12 campaign.
QUOTES FROM MEDIA DAY
LEE MAES
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Opening Statement – "We are excited to get started, we start next week. We have had a fantastic summer, if you haven't heard we took the team to China. We spent 10 days, had the opportunity to be immersed in an incredible culture and play great competition. It was also a wonderful opportunity for a lot of our incoming players to be acclimated to what we do from a systems standpoint, culture standpoint and also to help build relationships this summer. It was a great way for us to prepare for this upcoming season.Â
"We have nine new players in our program, nine incoming freshman and two new transfers. We are excited about playing in three weeks, we open the season with Long Island Brooklyn, Santa Barbra and Wyoming so it is going to be a really nice test for our team. We are going to be talented but quite young. Â With that in mind, we understand that effort, attitude and enthusiasm for learning as well as being good teammates are going to be of great importance to us to give us an opportunity to be successful as the season progresses. Our schedule is always difficult. We try to play the best teams in the country in preparation for the Pac-12. Our opening weekend will be a great test for us, the second weekend will be the Pac-12/Big Ten challenge. We will be playing at Iowa with Iowa, Illinois, and Washington. The third weekend we will host Colorado State challenge, this year we are actually playing Colorado State back-to-back. So we are excited about the upcoming season and we are getting ready."Â
On the possibility of the team being in transition – "We actually have three seniors this year Rachel Whipple, Lillie Klemmer and Justine Spann. Certainly Naghede (Abu) and Alexa (Smith) and (Gabbie) Carta (-Samuels) were really positive contributors over the years but the nice thing about the three seniors that we have is that they a really nice understanding of our culture and how we want do things. They will be great mentors to our new players. I look at it from 'if it is a transition standpoint,' the biggest transition is for our players to understand what we need to do on a daily basis to get better. If we focus more on process, the results will take care of themselves, but it is going to be a long process. We are going to focus on the present and continue to teach and educate our new players to be able to play at the level that we need them to play."
On the benefits from the trip to China– "We feel like it was a significant advantage. We were really fortunate to be able to have all of our incoming freshman join us as well as having our two transfers being able to play as well. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to get six or seven practices in were they don't have to play catch-up when we begin our season next week. All of returning players did a nice job embracing and cultivating them and being able to help them with what we do from a technical and systems standpoint."
On any potential changes after the trip- "It is interesting because we are a little limited to the number of substitutions, we had to play international rules versus collegiate rules here so that really had a lot on our players that we have to continue to improve our well-rounded game. In college volleyball, we have twelve substitutions so it tends to be a little more specialized whereas internationally you have to be well rounded in all aspects of your skills. So that really allowed our players to understand that you have to continue to improve your whole game rather than just being more specialized. Dealing with pressure and adversity while you are on the court and you don't have the type of subs that you normally have, you will get stressed a lot and being able to deal with that stress and continuing to deal with stress is great for them to understand. Especially when playing in the Pac-12 which is the best volleyball conference in the country from top to bottom, you will be stressed every single night and we want them to be able to embrace that and understand how to deal with that. So I think that was one big thing that was taken from that China trip to this upcoming season."Â
On any added pressure from their preseason ranking – "We don't spend a lot of time looking at rankings or anything like that. We are going to focus more on being the best we can be on a daily basis, rankings will take care of themselves and they are all subjective. It is nice being able to have expectations but at the same time I don't think those are the same expectations that we have for our team or within our program here. We are excited to be able to play, we are excited to get going and be able to identify things that we need to keep doing on a daily basis to get better. So that is more our focus, we feel like the results and rankings will all take care of themselves if we focus on our process."
On the recruiting class – "We are excited to welcome nine new players, seven of them are freshman. It's an incredibly talented class, they fill a lot of positions for us in terms of depth. We brought in a few pin hitters, in particular Jill Schneggenburger, Elissa Alcantara, Kelley Levaggi and Sterling Parker. They are very talented and very athletic. They come from backgrounds where they have really competitive experience at that club level. We also have Alexia Kuhl and Sterling Parker who can play middle as well as at the pin. We also have some defensive specialists/liberos in Katie Lougeay and SavannahPerry so we are just so excited about what they bring in terms of talent, who they are as people and I think that they will be able to integrate extremely well without culture. The biggest thing for them is to continue displaying the level of talent, effort, attitude, and enthusiasm so that we are able to function well and compete well as a unit. There is going to be a big learning curve for them but at the same time we have some really good returners that will be able to help them through this process. So we are excited, extremely excited." Â
On any advice to the basketball before they go to China –"From a staff standpoint, it is a great opportunity for everybody to be in a closed environment where you can develop those relationships that you are trying to grow. You have new members that you are trying to introduce to the program as well as trying to get returners the ability to embrace those new members. The great thing about being in a different environment like China is that there is going to be a lot of uncomfortableness and it is a great opportunity for them to educate their athletes on how to be comfortable being uncomfortable; the culture, the language, the food. I think that is the biggest take away for the staff."
JENNA EWERT
On team chemistry- "We had (Alexis Smith) and Naghede (Abu) last year, coming in as a freshman not just offensively were they important but they helped bring the team together and helped the freshman feel a lot more like they belong. They helped me a lot so that helped me help the freshman a lot more in China. I was able to bond with them a lot more, they felt a lot more comfortable. You could tell they are still a little nervous and not as comfortable as they were coming out of top clubs in the country because now they are at the bottom of the pack or bottom of the team again so they still aren't as confident but going to China and going through different countries and cultures we had to figure out things together and experienced something amazing together so I think that helped us bond and that helped us bring us together on the court. We had a couple games over there and just in those three games you could see us get a little better each time as we spent more time together and experienced new things together. So now we are comfortable even just in summer, these last couple weeks they have gotten a lot better, a lot more confident and they are starting to come out. Their personalities are starting to come out more on the court so it is really valuable to our team going forward."
On teaching the culture of Colorado volleyball to the new teammates –"I think that it is really important not just because of the loss of two seniors but because there are so many new people coming in. The integration is a lot more important because they all take up big pieces of our team. It's not so much the loss of them, they played huge roles but they have moved on and I think that it is time for people like Justine (Spann) and upperclassmen and people who play on the court to help the younger girls."
On the difference going into year two and giving experience to the incoming freshman –"Coming into year two I am a lot more comfortable. I know the girls, I am closer, I have played a year of collegiate volleyball, I have experienced the big gym and lights, the pressure and I think that last year my hardest thing was the pressure that you are under. You don't realize it because when you play club it is a little more wild. That is how I experienced it, if you are athletic you do things that are kind of crazy and you get good and that's it but when you get to college you have to tone it down and do your job every single time. You can mess up but there is a lot more pressure and there is a lot more riding on it so I think coming in and being a lot more comfortable will help me this year be a little more calm on the court. I think that having a calming presence from your setter or your outsides or the older girls on the team will help the freshman a lot more to come on and realize that they can rely on their teammates. And making a mistake is okay but you are still here to get better. The learning curve is a lot larger in a game, you learn so much more in a game than you do in practice so I think that it is really important for them to get in and dive in. You just have to figure it out."
On any advice to the basketball before they go to China –"Just go in with an open mind."
MEEGAN HARTÂ
On teaching the culture of Colorado volleyball to the new teammates –"So being new the older girls and teammates have been great with a smooth transition. I think that everyone takes that leadership initiative and not being afraid to step up since we have a lot of new freshman. I know it can be intimidating but I think everyone has accepted their role and is not afraid of being confident."
On her level of excitement being able to play in the Pac-12 –"I'm so excited. Being able to play in the Big 12 but the Pac-12 has always been a dream of mine to play in. Having this opportunity is great and I am just very, very excited."Â
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The team opens the season Friday, Aug. 9, with reporting and begin practice shortly after. The Buffaloes begin in the CU Event Center Aug. 24 with the Black and Gold scrimmage and are back for the first match of the season Aug. 30 against Wyoming at home.
Colorado is coming off their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season with a 18-14 overall record after losing to South Carolina in the first round. CU closed on a strong note, winning six of its last nine matches in the Pac-12 to push into the tournament after a 10-10 Pac-12 campaign.
QUOTES FROM MEDIA DAY
LEE MAES
Â
Opening Statement – "We are excited to get started, we start next week. We have had a fantastic summer, if you haven't heard we took the team to China. We spent 10 days, had the opportunity to be immersed in an incredible culture and play great competition. It was also a wonderful opportunity for a lot of our incoming players to be acclimated to what we do from a systems standpoint, culture standpoint and also to help build relationships this summer. It was a great way for us to prepare for this upcoming season.Â
"We have nine new players in our program, nine incoming freshman and two new transfers. We are excited about playing in three weeks, we open the season with Long Island Brooklyn, Santa Barbra and Wyoming so it is going to be a really nice test for our team. We are going to be talented but quite young. Â With that in mind, we understand that effort, attitude and enthusiasm for learning as well as being good teammates are going to be of great importance to us to give us an opportunity to be successful as the season progresses. Our schedule is always difficult. We try to play the best teams in the country in preparation for the Pac-12. Our opening weekend will be a great test for us, the second weekend will be the Pac-12/Big Ten challenge. We will be playing at Iowa with Iowa, Illinois, and Washington. The third weekend we will host Colorado State challenge, this year we are actually playing Colorado State back-to-back. So we are excited about the upcoming season and we are getting ready."Â
On the possibility of the team being in transition – "We actually have three seniors this year Rachel Whipple, Lillie Klemmer and Justine Spann. Certainly Naghede (Abu) and Alexa (Smith) and (Gabbie) Carta (-Samuels) were really positive contributors over the years but the nice thing about the three seniors that we have is that they a really nice understanding of our culture and how we want do things. They will be great mentors to our new players. I look at it from 'if it is a transition standpoint,' the biggest transition is for our players to understand what we need to do on a daily basis to get better. If we focus more on process, the results will take care of themselves, but it is going to be a long process. We are going to focus on the present and continue to teach and educate our new players to be able to play at the level that we need them to play."
On the benefits from the trip to China– "We feel like it was a significant advantage. We were really fortunate to be able to have all of our incoming freshman join us as well as having our two transfers being able to play as well. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to get six or seven practices in were they don't have to play catch-up when we begin our season next week. All of returning players did a nice job embracing and cultivating them and being able to help them with what we do from a technical and systems standpoint."
On any potential changes after the trip- "It is interesting because we are a little limited to the number of substitutions, we had to play international rules versus collegiate rules here so that really had a lot on our players that we have to continue to improve our well-rounded game. In college volleyball, we have twelve substitutions so it tends to be a little more specialized whereas internationally you have to be well rounded in all aspects of your skills. So that really allowed our players to understand that you have to continue to improve your whole game rather than just being more specialized. Dealing with pressure and adversity while you are on the court and you don't have the type of subs that you normally have, you will get stressed a lot and being able to deal with that stress and continuing to deal with stress is great for them to understand. Especially when playing in the Pac-12 which is the best volleyball conference in the country from top to bottom, you will be stressed every single night and we want them to be able to embrace that and understand how to deal with that. So I think that was one big thing that was taken from that China trip to this upcoming season."Â
On any added pressure from their preseason ranking – "We don't spend a lot of time looking at rankings or anything like that. We are going to focus more on being the best we can be on a daily basis, rankings will take care of themselves and they are all subjective. It is nice being able to have expectations but at the same time I don't think those are the same expectations that we have for our team or within our program here. We are excited to be able to play, we are excited to get going and be able to identify things that we need to keep doing on a daily basis to get better. So that is more our focus, we feel like the results and rankings will all take care of themselves if we focus on our process."
On the recruiting class – "We are excited to welcome nine new players, seven of them are freshman. It's an incredibly talented class, they fill a lot of positions for us in terms of depth. We brought in a few pin hitters, in particular Jill Schneggenburger, Elissa Alcantara, Kelley Levaggi and Sterling Parker. They are very talented and very athletic. They come from backgrounds where they have really competitive experience at that club level. We also have Alexia Kuhl and Sterling Parker who can play middle as well as at the pin. We also have some defensive specialists/liberos in Katie Lougeay and SavannahPerry so we are just so excited about what they bring in terms of talent, who they are as people and I think that they will be able to integrate extremely well without culture. The biggest thing for them is to continue displaying the level of talent, effort, attitude, and enthusiasm so that we are able to function well and compete well as a unit. There is going to be a big learning curve for them but at the same time we have some really good returners that will be able to help them through this process. So we are excited, extremely excited." Â
On any advice to the basketball before they go to China –"From a staff standpoint, it is a great opportunity for everybody to be in a closed environment where you can develop those relationships that you are trying to grow. You have new members that you are trying to introduce to the program as well as trying to get returners the ability to embrace those new members. The great thing about being in a different environment like China is that there is going to be a lot of uncomfortableness and it is a great opportunity for them to educate their athletes on how to be comfortable being uncomfortable; the culture, the language, the food. I think that is the biggest take away for the staff."
JENNA EWERT
On team chemistry- "We had (Alexis Smith) and Naghede (Abu) last year, coming in as a freshman not just offensively were they important but they helped bring the team together and helped the freshman feel a lot more like they belong. They helped me a lot so that helped me help the freshman a lot more in China. I was able to bond with them a lot more, they felt a lot more comfortable. You could tell they are still a little nervous and not as comfortable as they were coming out of top clubs in the country because now they are at the bottom of the pack or bottom of the team again so they still aren't as confident but going to China and going through different countries and cultures we had to figure out things together and experienced something amazing together so I think that helped us bond and that helped us bring us together on the court. We had a couple games over there and just in those three games you could see us get a little better each time as we spent more time together and experienced new things together. So now we are comfortable even just in summer, these last couple weeks they have gotten a lot better, a lot more confident and they are starting to come out. Their personalities are starting to come out more on the court so it is really valuable to our team going forward."
On teaching the culture of Colorado volleyball to the new teammates –"I think that it is really important not just because of the loss of two seniors but because there are so many new people coming in. The integration is a lot more important because they all take up big pieces of our team. It's not so much the loss of them, they played huge roles but they have moved on and I think that it is time for people like Justine (Spann) and upperclassmen and people who play on the court to help the younger girls."
On the difference going into year two and giving experience to the incoming freshman –"Coming into year two I am a lot more comfortable. I know the girls, I am closer, I have played a year of collegiate volleyball, I have experienced the big gym and lights, the pressure and I think that last year my hardest thing was the pressure that you are under. You don't realize it because when you play club it is a little more wild. That is how I experienced it, if you are athletic you do things that are kind of crazy and you get good and that's it but when you get to college you have to tone it down and do your job every single time. You can mess up but there is a lot more pressure and there is a lot more riding on it so I think coming in and being a lot more comfortable will help me this year be a little more calm on the court. I think that having a calming presence from your setter or your outsides or the older girls on the team will help the freshman a lot more to come on and realize that they can rely on their teammates. And making a mistake is okay but you are still here to get better. The learning curve is a lot larger in a game, you learn so much more in a game than you do in practice so I think that it is really important for them to get in and dive in. You just have to figure it out."
On any advice to the basketball before they go to China –"Just go in with an open mind."
MEEGAN HARTÂ
On teaching the culture of Colorado volleyball to the new teammates –"So being new the older girls and teammates have been great with a smooth transition. I think that everyone takes that leadership initiative and not being afraid to step up since we have a lot of new freshman. I know it can be intimidating but I think everyone has accepted their role and is not afraid of being confident."
On her level of excitement being able to play in the Pac-12 –"I'm so excited. Being able to play in the Big 12 but the Pac-12 has always been a dream of mine to play in. Having this opportunity is great and I am just very, very excited."Â
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