From youth sports, all the way through professional leagues, sports were heavily impacted by COVID-19 across the world. The past 17 months proved to be a challenge for coaches and athletes, as they tried to play through the pandemic and find normalcy during a very unusual time. As sports here at Saint Xavier are finally starting to get back into a regular routine, the women’s volleyball team has serious ambition to succeed this season.
The problematic “Covid season” did not help the fact that the team finished at 12-22 during the previous season, a sub .400 mark being the lowest in over a decade. In spite of all the difficulties the team has faced the last two seasons, everyone is eager to move past them and focus on this year.
Head Coach Bob Heersema, who is now in his 34th season coaching at Saint Xavier, said he actually liked the COVID-19 season. When the start of the season got moved from August, to January, there was substantially more time to prepare for games.
“Everybody was ready to rock and roll” by the time the first official practice rolled around, Heersema said. Instead of the later season being a setback, if anything, he thinks it made his players hungrier for this season.
Not only does Coach Bob think the team is more than ready to compete at a high level this year, he’s found that chemistry has been a valuable part of the team’s success. He credits his players for challenging each other at practices, saying “getting them to keep working hard because they see the payoff” has been a key part of that chemistry.
Holding each other accountable with their goals has aided the team’s communication both on and off the court. Freshman setter Kaleigh Ritter, who helped lead the Cougars to an electrifying five-set win over Olivet Nazarene on the 14th, said that “teamwork and cooperation” is imperative in determining their success day in and day out.
Leadership from the team’s upperclassmen has been paramount in keeping the team focused on goals and staying in a routine that will lead them down a path of success.
Junior, right side and outside hitter Nicole Dvorak, who has been on the team since 2019, said the underclassmen feel comfortable going to the upperclassmen about anything. This has allowed the team to “gel together” really well this year.
It should not be missed, that the goals for this season aren’t just about building good chemistry and cooperation with each other. They want to win. The Conference playoffs may be far away, but they aren’t out of anyone’s mind. As a matter of fact it’s what they’re playing towards with every game.
Making the conference playoffs is a goal of Coach Bob’s, but more importantly would be getting to the conference championship. Looking at the difficulties the past two seasons have given the program, to be in the conference championship, “would be huge for this group” said Heersema. Not only would that be a triumph for this group, but making the conference finals would also guarantee a first round play-in day at nationals.
Both Kaleigh Ritter and Nicole Dvorak are thinking along the lines of their head coach. Some may think it’s wishful thinking to be talking about conference championships and national tournaments early in the season. However, this team has the confidence and initiative to get it done.
Dvorak stated, “with the talent on this team this year, I think we have really good chances at accomplishing some of these goals”.
As the season trudges on the Cougars look to keep on doing what they’ve been doing, which is dominating. Upcoming matches include an away game against Indiana University Kokomo, on the 24th, and a home game on the 30th, against Calumet College of Saint Joseph. Go Cougs!