Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Volleyball Player Diary
9/3/2008 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2008
Follow the Bucknell volleyball team from the players' point of view. Here is the first installment, courtesy of senior English/history major, Shannon Pitsch.
After three weeks of intensive preseason practices, my 14 teammates and I were incredibly excited to get to scrimmage against a team other than ourselves! Before I get to the actual tournament, I should say something about those 14 girls. If you take a look around the new website of the 2008 Bucknell Volleyball team you will see a handful of new faces. That is because we have 7 talented freshmen that are eager and ready to get on the court. Kyleigh, Emily, Taylor, Anne, Lindsay, Kelsey, and Katie combine to fill almost half of our roster! It might sound like we have a young team, but in just three weeks of practice they have shown that our team is a force to be reckoned with. Our team dynamic is incredible, and it is really amazing to play with 14 other people all committed to the same goals and ideals.
So after a four-and-a-half-hour bus ride, we arrived at Central Connecticut State ready to see what our team could do outside of Davis Gym. In our first match against CCSU we realized that the new scoring system (we shifted from 30 to 25 point games this season) introduces a whole new dynamic to play under. Fortunately, we have 7 people who have been playing with this scoring system on their high school and club teams and can help us older players remember what this kind of game is like. Unlike the traditional Bucknell come-back kids of the past, we need to be the team that starts running as soon as the first whistle is blown and does not look back until the last whistle tells us to stop.
Another lesson we learned this weekend is the importance of mental focus. Not only does the new scoring system mean that we have to jump on the court ready and determined to play, but we have to maintain a higher level of mental focus on our serving and serve receive. With fewer points, we can afford fewer errors. And let's be honest. When we pass and serve well, we can spend more time finding new ways to show off our strong, tall, and speedy hitters (... always fun when you are a setter!)
This past weekend was a really great opportunity for our team to play against fast offenses, big blocks, and scrappy defenses- all elements we will soon encounter in the Patriot League Season. While the statistics might not show it quite yet, our team is brimming with the potential and poise necessary to surprise more than a few people this season!
