December 12, 2012

End of the 2012 season & 1st Semester

It gets easy to lose track of time easily this time of the year.  We didn't realize that we hadn't posted anything since the month of October on here.  Sorry about that everyone.

Well the 2012 season came to a close and it was a hard fought season with this overall young group of players. We battled in nearly every match this season and considered ourselves to be in a vast majority of the matches that in years past we would not have been.  Going to 5 sets with Morningside and 4 with Dordt late in the season are tell-tale signs of our progression as a team and what we anticipate for the upcoming seasons.  I am very proud of this group of young ladies and their resiliency to continue to come in and work hard every day. It will pay off for them as we approach the new year.

We will be adding some more posts in the coming weeks that will include our current signings for the 2013 rosters, an update or two on the progress for the spring workouts and practices, and then a summer send off edition.

Thank you to everyone that has continually read our blog, as well as followed us on Facebook (DWUVB) and Twitter (@DWUVB).  We will continually send out updates and fun notes.

Merry Christmas and Happy new year to everyone.

- Coach V


October 9, 2012

2 weeks later and we are finally back to normal

I last left you DWU VB fans with us getting ready to head into some very winnable matches against Mt. Marty, Dakota State, Valley City and Jamestown.  We knew going in we were still without the services of juniors Sam Sandau and Rachel Tinklenberg for another 2 weeks.  Our young players were just going to have to play at a higher level of consistency.

The goal was to get at least 2 or 3 wins over during the week.  We started with Mount Marty on Tuesday and hosting them at the Corn Palace.  It seems at least every other year Mount Marty turns out to be a thorn in our side.  This just happened to be one of those years.  Not to take anything away from them, they played hard and relatively mistake free volleyball to beat us in 3 sets.  It was a very frustrating experience for our team as they finally learned that their careless attacking and serving errors truly matter against every opponent.  We committed a total 50 errors in the 3 set match.  Yes, we gave them the total of 2 sets worth of points on mistakes that we could mostly control the result.  It felt as if we hit the bottom as we sat in the locker room searching for any type of positive to speak of.  The only that came up was that we got to play another match the next day to get this terrible loss out of our minds.

We came in the next day with a renewed focus and some lineup changes.  Which I don't suggest all of the time without a practice session.  However, we felt a little desperate at the time for a change. Something clicked for the team relatively all night we were a dominate offensive team that just racked up kill after kill.  We still committed a few too many attacking errors but we countered those errors with kills in this match rather than playable attacks like in other matches.  It was a great match as we came out with a five set win at Dakota State.  You can see some highlights from this match at the following web link http://www.hudl.com/team/51690/highlights/12486819.

We then went on the road for the weekend to North Dakota to play Jamestown and Valley City.  Jamestown is a team receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 vote and Valley City is a team we have nearly always gone to 4 or 5 sets with and all of the hotly contested. Our Jamestown match was played at a low error rate for us which was very nice to see.  We forced Jamestown to be the team to beat us and not ourselves.  We just couldn't earn enough kills or aces consistently enough to push the match to 4 sets.  We played well and even lead a few times in each set but once we got to that 16 to 17 point area Jamestown turned it on and we fizzled away.  We competed though and I believed that we were on the verge of playing better offensively and forcing teams to beat us rather than us giving them so many points.

Our match against Valley City was pretty much how we all expected it to go; every set with close scores and  trading the lead and ties in every set.  We split the first 2 sets to go into the 1-1 and we our game win was relatively dominate albeit the score may not show it.  We gave up a run at the end to make it closer than what it was.  And then the error bug crept up on us again as we felt pressure to be more aggressive offensively because of how well VCSU was playing defensively.  The last 2 sets were still close but we in each set we had 2 runs of points where we gave them 4 errors in row to put a little cushion between us to finish off the match.

We learned a lot as a team and some of our players rediscovered their roles to help us compete and be a more consistent team. Our energy level and emotional play was higher and we now know going into the next few weeks we will need to play at the highest level to achieve our goals.

Talk to all of you soon.
Coach V

September 24, 2012

A long week of Travel


We had a full week off until our next match. This time it was against reigning GPAC champion Morningside.  We felt that we were unbelievably prepared for this match.  We had to adjust our lineup with Sam being out for a few weeks due to her injury.  We inserted Sarah Kruse, a freshman from IA, into the lineup and thought that we had something special with how we knew the match would go with their lineup.  Unfortunately our other starting junior, Rachel Tinklenberg, suffered a head injury while on campus during the day and was not 100% for the match.  Only after the match did we find out how serious the injury would be.  Rachel did play and played very well for most of the match.  As a team we played extremely well taking a set from Morningside to have the match tied at 1-1 going into the break.  After dropping the 3rd we came back out in the 4th with a readjustment to our starting rotations and it paid off. We controlled most of the 4th set had a couple of set points to force the 5th.  However, that lack of killer instinct crept up on us again and we just couldn't put the 1 ball away we needed to seal the game.  I was very proud of the team as we have never played so well against Morningside and I do believe the next match we play them we will win or it will go to 5.

We had to refocus again as we found out Rachel's injury would keep her out for the next few weeks.  We are now facing a part of the schedule with about 5 very winnable matches out of 7.  However, we have to go through it without our 2 most veteran and leading attacking players.  This is the time of the year that we have to show some resiliency and have a lot of freshmen and sophomores raise their level play immediately. Small mistakes are now big ones for us.

We approached the weekend without Sam and Rachel still in a very positive manner. Knowing that our opponent, Concordia Univ., was a team struggling like us to make other teams beat them.  I was so confident in our players and the lineup we chose to use for the weekend that at not one point in time did I think that we could even go to 5 with them.  We found out that we are great team in the middle of matches (like top 35 in the nation good) but at the start of a match and the end to close it out we play with some fear to make the big play.  We were up 2 sets to 1 and played well for 2/3 of the 4th set.  We just couldn't close out the match as we became a little tentative on offense and gave away too many easy chances for Concordia to make a run.  The 5th set did not start off favorably as we did not receive serve well enough to stay in system.  We made a small push but it was not enough to get over the early deficit we gave ourselves.  This was still an unbelievable performance by our team that played with mainly Freshmen and Sophomores on the court a majority of the match. We have heart as a team but are still looking for that clutch performance by any of our hitters.

We have a short turn around as we look into next week and play Mt. Marty on Tuesday and Dakota State on Wednesday then travel to North Dakota for matches against Jamestown and Valley City. We have to find some kind of killer instinct as I do believe that we will put ourselves in position to win each of these matches. Can we finish the job each time is the question.

So the title isn't only about our matches.  We had some bus issues on our way to Morningside that delayed the start of the matches by an hour and half.  We then were supposed leave on Friday night to head down to Nebraska for our match with Concordia on Saturday. As we were waiting outside for the bus we received the call the bus was not going to be able to make the trip.  We then had to adjust our departure to Saturday morning at 6am.  Just not a great week for us with bus travel.

Keep checking our FaceBook and Twitter (@DWUVB) pages for more information. We also have a YouTube page with funny videos of our team. Have a great week.

- Coach V

September 17, 2012

Tough Times at Home

From my last post we had high expectations to get our level of consistency in matches to be better.  In turn hoping that the wins and losses would take care of themselves if we made it be that the opponent beat us rather than us give away around 15 points per game in errors. I must say that overall we have cleaned up our play and earned more set wins when doing that.  Now that next step is to close out matches with confidence and a killer instinct.

We went 1-3 at our tournament on Sept. 7-8, which was not the plan at all.  We had some big troubles with giving away points early in sets and putting ourselves in too big of a hole to come out of late.  The awareness of the value of every point was not with us that weekend.

We opened up GPAC play by hosting Dordt College on Wednesday Sept. 12.  Dordt has always been a very high quality team in the conference and this year is no difference. They were a very solid blocking team and had an MH that had a great match at the net.  We added to it with a lot of reception errors which was not the norm for how our season had been going to that point.  We had been very solid as a serve receive team most of the season. We finished the match playing well and forcing Dordt into more mistakes and we began to put more balls away but fell short in the end.  It was also not a great ending as junior Sam Sandau injured her ankle in one of the last 3 points of the match. She was playing a very solid match and contributing so much to our team.

We now have a week off until we play Morningside next Wednesday.  We have to look at a new lineup and come up with some ways to earn points aggressively.  It is a big week for us with some winnable matches.

Keep checking our facebook page and our Twitter (@DWUVB) page for quick bits of information.  We also have a YouTube page DWUVolleyball.  There you can find funny videos from our team normally.

I'll talk to you next week.

- Coach V

September 6, 2012

Solid Progress for the beginning of the Season

As I look back over the first 2 weeks of the season I have mixed feelings about where we are as a team. I love the energy and enthusiasm that this group plays with every match.  We have heart and we battle every opponent.  However, in most of the matches we have played we have also battled ourselves along with the opponent due to our inconsistencies on offense.  We put so much emphasis on defense during the preseason that we knew there was going to be moments that our offensive prowess was not going to be to the level that a particular match situation would require. I am remain confident that as we progress through this season we will get our comfort level for offense figured out. We have some solid attackers and setters and it is only a matter of time and discipline training for us to find our stride.

For those following us through the website (http://www.dwuathletics.com/womens-athletics/volleyball/) or our Facebook page or twitter feed (@DWUVB) have seen some solid set scores but not the match scores every team hopes for in a result. We have played 2 weekend tournaments so far and came out 1-3 in each of those.  The goal was to go 2-2 but fell short in the 1 match in each tournament we thought we could get (Valley City on 8/25 lost in 5 and Mayville on 9/1 lost in 4). Unfortunately a match we had strong feelings about that we would win was cancelled on 9/3 against Trinity Bible College; we hope to reschedule that match.

We hosted the DWU/Coca-Cola Classic last weekend for the Labor Day weekend.  It was a great success although our record didn't show the quality of play we did have. Dani Bird (OH, Omaha, NE) was named to the all-tournament team for her solid attacking and blocking performance all weekend.

This upcoming weekend we host our annual Corn Palace Classic (match schedule HERE).  There is no doubt in my mind that we can leave the weekend with a 4-0 record to help build confidence as we head into conference play next week.  You can see all of the matches played streaming live, http://www.justin.tv/cornpalace.

We will have updates all weekend through our Dakota Wesleyan Volleyball Facebook and twitter (@DWUVB) accounts as well as our DWU Athletics pages (@dwusports).

Talk to you again next week.
- Coach V

August 23, 2012

2012 Season is upon us

Well the time has come to lace up the shoes and strap on the knee pads for the high intense competition of college volleyball.  We finish the 2 weeks of preseason extremely anxious to play against someone other than ourselves.  It will be a true test of where we are as a team and what areas we still need to improve.  It has been an interesting preseason for us with injuries creeping up on us a bit and other issues that have slowed our progress.  However, after today's practice I believe we have built some confidence and rhythm with our players.

Some key players to watch will be Dani Bird (So., OH from Omaha, NE), Rachel Tinklenberg (Jr., MH from Pipestone, MN), Elizabeth Mahsem (Fr., MH from MacFarland, WI), Sammy Fluck (FR., OH from Becker, MN) and Maggie Stehly (Fr., Libero from Sioux Falls, SD)

There have been some very good moments for every player in our program and the selection of a travel roster for this weekend was very difficult.  We will have a predominantly young lineup out on the floor for the entire season so I am sure we'll have some up and down rhythms to the season.  All in all we are excited about what the future brings and are positive that we have more successes than failures this year.

We'll have another update next week with some information about the matches from this upcoming weekend.   We wish all of you reading this the best of luck this weekend if you are playing as well.  Take care and have a great day.

- Coach V

August 7, 2012

Introducing the 2012 DWU Incoming VB Playes

It is time to mention our 2012 Recruiting class.

You can get more information about each player from their press releases HERE.

First let me say that I am excited about the young ladies coming in this upcoming fall and believe that these additions along with the returners that have the varsity experience; we have created a very solid foundation to truly build from for the future success of this program.

Sammy Fluck from Becker, MN will be asked to move from her traditional middle hitter position to the left side hitting position. It is a change that she will be able to make comfortably with her very high skill level.

Elizabeth "Z" Mahsem from McFarland, WI was a late addition to our class but we are very fortunate have her coming to DWU. "Z" is a force at the net offensively and should be a great option for our offense in the middle of the court.

Maggie Stehly from Sioux Falls, SD should be considered one of the top libero prospects coming out of the state of SD. At 5'10" she can cover a lot of court with her length and fortunately we signed her rather than one of the local D1 or D2's got her.

Mallory Jark from Warner, SD will be a great addition to our roster as a utility hitter. Primarily a middle hitter, Mallory can hit from any position on the court and defend the back court relatively well. A very high ceiling of potential.

Hannah Hammer from Dell Rapids, SD is a tall, left-handed right side attacker. We will be able to extend our offensive range by adding Hannah to our roster. Everyone like to have a lefty on the right side, we are no different.

MacKenzie Stevens from Polk, NE is a high energy player that can hit on the left side and be a very strong defensive player. Another competitive player that is athletic and very skilled as a passer.

Sarah Kruse from George, IA is another athletic player with a surprisingly fast arm swing that explodes on the ball. With the limited amount of depth at the left side position, her height and aggressive swing could be valuable early in her career.

Karlee Huber from Rapid City, SD is a combination left side hitter and defensive specialist. She is very aggressive defender and plays so hard on every play. I believe a great addition to our mentality on defense.

Jaymie Barrett from Scotland, SD is a setter that will help add some depth to our roster in that position. Jaymie has an understanding of not trying to over-analyze situations and simply gets the job done.

Shelby Vosburg from Baltic, SD is primarily a MH but does have some ability to play other positions on the court, even as a defensive player. She plays with a high VB IQ level that normally has her positioned extremely well to make plays.

Jessalyn Weink from De Smet, SD is raw talent with a very strong arm swing. I have seen her hit some very heavy attacks that quite honestly scare some players. We can't wait to unleash her on the GPAC.

This class of 11 athletes is possibly the most overall athletic class I have brought in to DWU. Six of the 11 are at least 6' tall and 2 others are at least 5'10". There will be a lot asked of each of these players this upcoming season as well as during their entire careers while at DWU.

The future seems bright with these athletes along with the talent that we brought in for 2011. Skilled athletes with high ceilings for progress; everything a coach wants in a rebuilding phase.

It's a great time to be a Tiger Volleyball Player and even a great time to want to be a part of our future.

- Coach V

July 24, 2012

As the summer ends.....

Well it has been quite some time since I have left a message here (Sorry about that everyone, the first baby boy certainly takes your attention away from other things).

I meant to do at least 1 or 2 posts about the spring season for the team.  Better late than never right?

After finishing the season with the amount of injuries we had we were forced to play a lot of younger players (mainly freshmen) in situations we weren't ready to put them in yet.  However, all things considered the growth of each player was great in the last 3 weeks of the season.  Our focus in the spring was to focus purely on Serve Receive Passing and Transition Hitting.  I believe our consistency in these areas has gotten better but you never know how it will translate to the following fall season after nearly 3 months off because of the summer break. We went into the spring with 18 players and a lot of focus towards each day that we trained.  There were a lot of very good days that built confidence in every player.

As we approached the time in April that team practices would start we had some roster changes (both injury and departure) occur that we weren't expecting and I can say that it did affect the overall feeling of our team looking towards the near future.  We had to alter our focus on lineup creation a bit as we competed in some friendly spring tournaments with other teams in the area.  There were some big eye-opening moments for us that showed some of our players areas of improvement that we thought we had fixed.  By the end of the spring season, there was a great deal of progress and understanding of what truly needs to be done on an individual skill level to achieve the team goals we have for the upcoming couple of seasons.  Experiences were gained in the struggles we faced on the court and sometimes that is the best teacher.

Now that we are approaching the start of the season I can only hope that every returner comes back to campus in top form and ready to continue the progress and strive to make DWU a force to be reckoned with in the GPAC.

- Coach V