​The NCAA has passed legislation adding the National Invitational Volleyball Championship as a permanent season-ending event for volleyball – Triple Crown Sports brought the event back to life in 2017 and has seen the programs from Ole Miss, Iowa State, Georgia Tech and UNLV claim an NIVC title. The 2022 event will launch with selection night on Nov. 27, with the championship match slated for Dec. 12 or 13.   
 
By Kyle Koso
 
As most Californians know, the tallest mountain in the state is Mount Whitney.
 
Rumor has it, the second-tallest is the non-conference schedule taken on by the Cal Poly volleyball team in 2022.
 
The Mustangs’ brain trust headed by head coach Caroline Walters did not kid around when it came to creating early challenges for the roster, a group already dominated by underclassmen in a program that had a bit of a down season in 2021, going 15-16 overall. When 2022 kicked in, Cal Poly faced off with Top 25 foes such as UCLA, Pepperdine and Washington, along with a tough Northwestern squad that is currently 12-3. Ultimately, the Mustangs went 0-7 during the grind.
 
But Cal Poly’s players stayed faithful, did not pelt Walters with wads of garbage every time she walked into the gym, and turned around to win five straight matches including two at the start of Big West play last weekend. The Mustangs showed early signs of flexing the tools to thrive, taking Pepperdine and Washington to five sets, and another big proving ground moment looms this weekend with Big West matches at UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge.
 
“It was by design, although I don’t know if I fully appreciated that of the 18 people on our roster, 15 were underclassmen,” said Walters, in her third year as head coach and 15th overall in San Luis Obispo. “Sure, there’s was nothing happening in the ‘W’ column, but our ask of the girls is that they are getting better with each match, each set, ideally each point we play if we’re doing it right. We ask them to manage their expectations and narrow their focus on getting a little bit better each time out.
 
“I’ve been here a long time and in 2017 and 2018, we’re winning the Big West championship, going to the NCAA tournament and losing in the first or second round. I think there’s a little bit of shell-shock at that next level. Part of what I wanted to for the team is to show that to them early on and get them that experience. Our serve and pass had to elevate quickly, as we have a freshman setter (Emme Bullis) who got a baptism by fire, and she responded famously. I hope we’ll reap the rewards of some of those early losses and that we hit our groove as this part of the season plays out.”
 
Maintaining the spirits and keeping the right attitude through the winless start might sound daunting to outsiders, but Cal Poly refused to be distracted. It stems from a real appreciation of adversity told through the journey of two teammates, Brooklyn Burns and Maia Dvoracek, both of whom play important roles when they could just as easily not be playing at all.
 
Burns, a freshman from San Diego, faced a Lymphoma diagnosis in February and fought through treatment to join the team in the summer – she’s played every match in 2022, giving the team some juice when serving and playing solid defense as well. Dvoracek, a senior, was preparing for a professional career when COVID hit, and while waiting for clarity she suffered a profound knee injury that cost her all of 2021. She’s now the Mustangs leader in kills (161), digs and aces.

“It’s a group of high-character individuals who are passionate about the game and each other, and more than that we have some special people on the team that help us stay grounded,” Walters said. “With Brooklyn, volleyball pales in comparison … she’s a walking, breathing reminder that there are other things more important. That made 0-7 not seem so catastrophic as another group might see it to be.
 
“Maia tore everything in her knee, I mean everything, and sat out 2021. By the time we started (in 2022), it was like 1,000 days since she’d played a match … to go through all of that, to show the resilience and be grateful for each day she gets to play the game, it spreads like wildfire in the group. The humility and gratitude is there that we get to do this. We talk about the opportunities we have a lot.”
 
Bullis has settled in nicely at setter (9.20 assists per set), and other relative newcomers like sophomores Tommi Stockham (149 kills) and Kate Slack (42 total blocks) are holding up very well with a lot of on-court responsibility to handle. Las Vegas native Stockham had to manage her way through some early-career disruptions, signing first with USC then shifting to Indiana for a year before transferring to Cal Poly.
 
“We have to recruit highly-motivated players, as this school is very difficult to get into. We want to make sure they understand there’s a certain amount of grit and hard work that goes into this,” Walters said. “Kate Slack for example, was not where she needed to be and we pushed her, a lot of emphasis on the weight room. It’s been cool to see her transform into a dedicated athlete, two years of just putting her head down.
 
“Player development comes to mind – as a mid-major, we’re maybe not getting the top-tier kid right out of high school. We have been blessed with some key transfers, and that has to do with how we treat our girls, and I like to think that is shared with others, that we cultivate an environment that people want to be a part of.”
 
All the early bruises absorbed from the start of 2022 will likely spawn stories the players will tell each other now and forever, just as Walters and her staff will surely relish the little things that happen when a young roster comes of age. It may be that preseason Big West favorites Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara will stand tall, but the Mustangs know they’ve already tackled some high-altitude challenges.
 
“The younger players have a bigger growth capacity, and that’s what’s exciting for us as coaches,” Walters added. “You see what happens when they invest their time. You have to be understanding that they are young, and I’ll be listening to them sing Disney songs in the team room, but it’s a joy to be with this group.”

​The NCAA has passed legislation adding the National Invitational Volleyball Championship as a permanent season-ending event for volleyball – Triple Crown Sports brought the event back to life in 2017 and has seen the programs from Ole Miss, Iowa State, Georgia Tech and UNLV claim an NIVC title. The 2022 event will launch with selection night on Nov. 27, with the championship match slated for Dec. 12 or 13.   
 
By Kyle Koso
 
Like “Saturday Night Live” in many ways, a college volleyball program takes stage every year at the same time, even if the cast’s turnover leaves folks a little unsure about the product.
 
But it’s no joke about the ability of the UNLV squad to roll with the changes and provide a lot of entertainment for fans of the brand.
 
The Rebels had no choice but to move on from some key players that guided the team to the 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship title, but head coach Dawn Sullivan is pulling off the tough task of succeeding in 2022 thanks to anticipating the headwinds long in advance. UNLV, which launches its Mountain West Conference slate Thursday at Colorado State, sits at 9-2 on the season and already owns a memorable win, topping then-No. 19 Kansas in four sets on Sept. 9.
 
The departure of Mariena Hayden (back-to-back MWC player of the year) and setter Lauryn Burt had to sting, but Sullivan had Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos ready to crank up the kills (161) for her junior year, as well as Isabel Martin, a native of Germany who played two years in the JUCO ranks before redshirting at UNLV last season. Martin leads the team with 182 kills; the roster also showed some recruiting foresight as Maya Sands is shining at the libero spot with a team-high 19 aces and 186 digs. She was the MWC freshman and defensive player of the week as announced Sept. 19.
 
“You think about it a lot, the fact that we’re building a program, how it can grow over time and establish a tradition,” said Sullivan, who also steered the program to the NIVC semifinals in 2018 and Round 2 in 2019. “We moved Gabby from right side to left this year, and we were able to train her there pretty much all spring. She had seen some time there before, but she’s really embraced that role. The we brought in Isabel Martin, who redshirted last year because we had solid outsides and wanted to be sure we had someone strong who could step in and put the ball away. That was something we thought through.”
 
And if good luck lands on those who work hard, that explains how the Rebels are dealing with the setter position, as grad student Jhenna Gabriel has taken on the task (10.14 assists per set). Originally planning on a coaching role, Gabriel decided to use her last window of eligibility to suit up again after a terrific career at Texas, where she was 2020 Big 12 setter of the year.
 
“We’ve had a lot of pieces moving around, some graduated, so you keep pushing over time to that same standard, and you hope they are ready to play when they walk in the gym and are ready when they need to be,” Sullivan said. “We spent a lot of time over the spring building our chemistry and culture, because we had a lot of turnover and new people joining the program. You don’t quite know what’s there going into the preseason.”
 
UNLV started with five straight wins, followed by a five-set loss against Miami that provided a moment of clarity. The Rebels were comfortable with their skills and now just needed steadier focus to pull it all together, and that led straight to the exciting result against the Jayhawks (who pushed No. 1 Texas to five sets Wednesday night).
 
That’s the roadmap for the conference campaign, leading off with a tough one at CSU, the preseason No. 1 of the MWC. UNLV has shown offensive spark, to be sure, and there’s some impactful punch up front thanks to sophomore Chloe Thomas and junior Jordyn Freeman.  
 
“The Mountain West is tough. We did a nice job in the preseason setting ourselves up a bit, getting some confidence, but there are a lot of good teams in this conference,”” added Sullivan. “It’s on us to continue working on the little things, our block defense or getting a bit sharper on offense, with the serve and pass. We’ll continue to work and believe that when we step on the court together that we are OK. And to keep coming together as a team, that’s important for this group, to be open and embrace each other and provide energy for each other. We want to be a much better team in a month than we are today, and we’ll see different people rise up with this group.”
 
LAST WORD – Sullivan on the NIVC: “The NIVC has helped us a great deal and I’m thankful that we have it as an option for us to continue playing volleyball. Every year we’ve been in it, I feel we’ve grown a ton as a ton those last couple of weeks. Those opportunities are so special. We of course want to play in the NCAAs, but we’re happy to play anytime there’s an opportunity to grow and learn as players and people.
 
“The opportunity to be challenged, that this could be your last match, is really important to be put in those situations so they understand the pressure, how to stay confident and composed. All those things add up. What the NIVC has provided us is a lot of confidence, so that in the postseason, we feel good. We know we can step on the court and know what it feels like.”

The NCAA has passed legislation adding the National Invitational Volleyball Championship as a permanent season-ending event for volleyball – Triple Crown Sports brought the event back to life in 2017 and has seen the programs from Ole Miss, Iowa State, Georgia Tech and UNLV claim an NIVC title. The 2022 event will launch with selection night on Nov. 27, with the championship match slated for Dec. 12 or 13.   
 
By Kyle Koso
 
One of those college athletics stories told a million times, but always fresh to the ones involved, is the tricky journey of a new head coach taking over a program. How will the veteran players react? Will incoming freshmen stick it out? Is it best to apply a heavy hand or lighter touch on new tactics, procedures and game plans?
 
Early chapters on the topic are reading gracefully for the Wright State volleyball squad, which is off to a 5-0 start in 2022 under new head coach Travers Green, who was an assistant coach at Mississippi State for four years before taking on his first job atop a program. Next up for the Raiders is this weekend’s Cardinal and Gold Challenge featuring matches against Drake and Power 5 foes Iowa and Iowa State.
 
Green was able to get in the gym for about a week with his roster in the spring, his first chance to figure which pedals to push in getting Wright State on track with his vision. He took over for Allie Matters, who moved to Illinois State after four years with the Raiders.
 
“We were able to develop relationships then over the summer; one thing I’ve tried to be clear with is I was going to be who I am, but there is of course the balancing act with anytime there’s a coaching change – there were other relationships already built,” said Green, who also coached at South Florida and Florida International University. “I wanted to be honest and open about that; we know players had relationships with the other staff. It’s one reason we do what we do. Once we got into the season, we tried to put in the way we want to coach and work on a few different system things.
 
“One of the cool things about this transition to Wright State, there are players here who are very talented and skilled, but more important they are good people and have been extremely welcoming, open-minded, and a great testament to the group.”  
 
Wright State is not interested in reversing recent progress, with the team reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and 2020 and winning 23 matches a year ago. Green and his staff do have the comfort of gritty, seasoned and secure players with terrific resumes already in the gym, starting with fifth-year players Jenna Story (libero) and Lainey Stephenson (setter). Story is the three-time defending defensive player of the year from the Horizon League, and Stephenson is well on her way to the career assist mark with the program.
 
After the bump and the set, the offense is well-positioned with solid swings coming from seniors Megan Alders and Callie Martin, who were first and second in kills in 2021, and junior Sam Ott, the most recent Horizon League player of the week and the Western Michigan tourney MVP, where WSU went 3-0.
 
“Those players have been part of the recent success here, and it’s helpful for us to have that solid footing. With Jenna and Lainey, you have players who are going to touch the ball on essentially every point,” Green said. “That experience is critical, but the cool part is, there is a growth mindset here. In the period we’ve had with them, they still are learning and growing, and it’s (helpful) that those who have been playing volleyball for a long time are still interested in evolving.”
 
Not inconsequential for Green and his staff was the stabilizing and securing of the incoming freshman class. Coaching changes create territory where fresh recruits can be left adrift by the sudden appearance of an administration that had nothing to do with their recruiting, but Wright State is positioned to recharge the roster with five newcomers. Freshman Aaliyah Byers, a 6-foot middle, has played in all 19 sets so far and leads the team in blocks.
 
The Raiders, picked to finish third on the Horizon in the preseason coaches poll, start league play on the road Sept. 23-24 against preseason No. 7 (Cleveland State) and No. 6 (Oakland). Getting off to a good start would provide that extra dose of confidence that the coaching change has been managed and executed with the right tone and vision, and that the team understands the mission of getting better week by week.
 
“We’re going with a little bit faster offense; there’s been a committed transition to that, and I’m pleased with where we are there. We’ve been able to side-out at a high percentage and this weekend is a good test to see if that will hold against tougher competition,” Green added. “The biggest area we’ve been focusing on and curious about is our blocking and being more disciplined there. Also, what it will be like to see more physicality on the other side of the net and how we deal with that from an attacking standpoint.”