The IUPUI volleyball team has been in the midst of preseason practices for two weeks and this weekend, the Jaguars will finally get the opportunity to kick off their 2011 season when they head to DeKalb, Ill., for four extremely competitive matches, including three against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. While on paper the first tournament features stiff competition, the 2011 edition of the Jaguars volleyball team is excited for the opportunity to get a fresh start and prove that this season will be different than the 8-22 result from a season ago.

 

With nine months separating the final match of the 2010 season and the first match of the 2011 slate, the Jags have had the spring season, summer conditioning and preseason to prepare for a tough 31-game schedule. During that span, the driving force was making the necessary changes in order to reach the team’s goal of returning to the Summit League Tournament.

 

“Some players like to use the season before as motivation whether it was a successful or non-successful season in order to do better,” said head coach Steve Payne. “They want to correct some of the mistakes they may have made the year before, individually and as a team, and they can learn from that. That’s the key coming back the next year is to change things, make it better, and learn from the mistakes whether you had 20 wins or five wins.”

 

“Our focus is to put the past behind us and focus on a new season,” said 2010 second-team all-conference performer and 2011 co-captain Shari Bernhardt. “We don’t necessarily want to forget about it, but we want to make a change, step up, and do the things we need to do to win.”

 

According to Bernhardt, the changes started in the spring, moved into summer conditioning and continued in the preseason.

 

“It helped in the spring that we [the returners] got to play together and start that new team dynamic and now it’s reflecting right away in preseason,” Bernhardt said. “I had the opportunity to go to California this summer and play beach volleyball and my teammates would push me from home when they would tweet about working out and I knew and trusted that my teammates were working out, so I knew I had to keep working harder.”

 

With all the work put in during the offseason, Payne stated that one of the most impressive things he witnessed at the start of camp was the shape his team was in.

 

“What I have been really impressed with during preseason is that the returners came back in good physical shape,” Payne said. “The newcomers have really contributed right away on the court so we can progress a lot faster in terms of moving on past the basic skills.”

 

Part of the reason for the quick progression throughout the preseason practices has been the leadership of the two captains, Bernhardt and Lindsey Weber. The duo have embraced their roles and bought in to this year’s message.

 

“They provide great leadership and competitiveness,” Payne remarked. “The whole team in general is competitive against each other, while knowing they are going to make each other better. Shari and Lindsey are guiding the team in that direction and keeping the energy high on and off the floor.”

 

“I think the keys to this season are communication, hard work on and off the court, and being able to ‘cross the line’ as coach Nicole Cirillo challenged us,” Weber said. “’Crossing the line’ means taking our training and learning farther than we already have and pushing ourselves and each other to become better as a team as well as individuals. It is part of our core focus.”

 

“We have been talking about ‘crossing the line’, which is like going the next step and so that’s been our focus through the summer to get ready for the preseason and during the preseason to get ready for the season,” Bernhardt added.

 

As the Jaguars continue to push themselves in preparation for the upcoming season, IUPUI has an experienced group of returners poised to aid the efforts of Bernhardt and Weber. The Jags boast an impressive group of outside hitters in Weber, Kalyse Reimbold and Moriah Fair, while also returning a pair of middle hitters in returning team hitting percentage leader Bethany Fogler and Kortni Wright.  And with one year of running the offense under her belt, Alexis Meeks enters her sophomore season having a better rapport with her hitters.

 

However, newcomers Meredith Farkas, Kelsey Hoefer, Beth Howard, Ellyn Jones, and Corinne Owens will ultimately give the Jags the depth needed to compete during a long, grueling season. Four of the five are freshmen, while Hoefer arrives on campus as a junior following two seasons at Towson University.

 

“[The newcomers] have brought us more speed on the court, good ball control, and they have made us deeper in three or four positions so that’s really going to help us,” Payne said. “It makes everybody push harder for that spot and then we can go to the bench whenever we want to. They have filled in those roles well.”

 

“It helps that our returning players have held our newcomers to high expectations,” Bernhardt said. “We want them to do well and fit in and be a part of the team. It’s not newcomers against returners out there, it’s more like, ‘We need you,’ and they are really good players who have meshed well with us. They are not afraid to step up and play.”

 

Although the volleyball roster possesses proven, experienced players and a talented nucleus of newcomers, the Jaguars were recently picked to finish seventh in the 2011 Summit League Volleyball Preseason Poll. However, the success of this year’s version of the IUPUI volleyball team will lie within their ability to focus on their main goal and continue the camaraderie developed throughout the preseason.  

 

“Success will come from staying focused on what our main goal is, which is the Summit League and getting to the top of that,” Payne said. “Playing the game that we can play, everybody contributing the best way they can, and helping each other out will ultimately determine how far we can go.”

 

“I feel like our team is ready to go farther than the goals we have set for ourselves and we are doing our best to make it happen,” Weber said.