 photo by Jeff Liang
NOTE: 2019 will mark the third year of the revitalized, revamped National Invitational Volleyball Championships, which is a D-I postseason tournament dedicated to expanding the profile of deserving women's volleyball programs. We will check in on various teams through this season, with a particular eye to high-achieving mid-major programs. by Kyle Koso You play with a volleyball, not a crystal ball, so UC Santa Barbara head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch and senior outside hitter Lindsey Ruddins couldn’t know exactly what the Gauchos’ roster was capable of in 2019. There were hopes, ideas and schemes designed to put young players in the middle of the fray, starting with the change to a 6-2 offense that brought in freshman Romoni Vivao as co-setter. As UCSB decoded the mystery of whom to put where, the team started winning and really hasn’t stopped, taking a 15-1 record (5-0 in the Big West) into a couple of key home matches coming up, this Saturday against Hawaii and next Saturday versus Cal Poly. Both those teams are classic powerhouses in the Big West, but the Gauchos are hungry for the challenge. Three sophomores and four freshmen are chipping in with great moments, while Ruddins (three-time all-Big West first team, three-time AVCA honorable mention All-American) answers the bell with knock-down kill shots and a mix of other attributes that keeps the squad churning forward. “It’s scary if you expect freshman to come in and produce a lot; coaches make the mistake of doing that sometimes. It’s been a pleasant surprise to have four freshmen really impacting our team, in regular roles,” said Welch, who is in her seventh year at UCSB. “The big thing is, you have to look at personnel of the group. For us, we have more arms in the gym, and we needed to get them on the floor. The best way to do that was to run a 6-2, and we have two very capable setters. We experimented with it, leaned on it leading into the season, and it’s gotten better ever since. “Part of being in this 6-2 meant Lindsey was going to have to pass, and she’s embraced that at an extremely high level, and that’s allowed us to have more hitters on the floor, more balance and more team success. That’s what she is all about – she wants to do well as a team. The great thing, we have that go-to player you can use at any time, and she will deliver. She’s done it before, she’ll do it again, and that’s what she means for UCSB volleyball.” As the plan unfolded, the Gauchos started to pocket some signature moments – topping an always sound San Diego team on Sept. 13, rolling to 3-0 sweeps in the past four Big West matches, and most notably, a 3-0 triumph over UCLA on Sept. 18 that marked the first win over the Bruins since 1998. It’s been a regular showcase of skills for sophomores Olivia Lovenberg, Zoe Fleck and Gigi Ruddins and freshmen Vivao, Deni Wilson, Tasia Farmer and Tallulah Froley, a redshirt who has been named Big West freshman of the week twice. The elder Ruddins noted the team has been particularly strong at sharing the load and leaning on each other, while she’s still very happy to take her swings as the primary hitter. “This summer, I was super excited to see all the freshmen play and see the potential we had; playing right now with such a young team, it’s impressive how they have been handling all the challenges they we’ve faced so far,” said Ruddins, who has nearly 1,800 career kills. “They’ve executed in every way possible when we needed them to. I’m excited for the future of the program and to watch all of them grow as players. We had changed a lot about our offense and defense over the spring, and they came in and had to take all that on right away. We’ve been running a fast offense; Moni picked it up pretty quickly, as did all the hitters. “Going into my last season, there’s a little bit of pressure on it – I just want the team to succeed and do well. I’ve been trying to be the best leader and example for these young girls as I can be, so in the future they can succeed. The program is headed in such a great direction, and I want to help that any way I can. We have such great depth and a lot of hitters doing well. I like to think I have a connection with Olivia, the setter I’m mostly with, and she’s been great.” Welch has had, by any measure, a very distinctive career in the sport. The Southern California native crossed the country to play collegiately at Maryland, then stayed out east for her first head coaching job at Miami. The Hurricanes were re-starting the volleyball program, so Welch was tasked will pulling together all the pieces from scratch – she ran the show for 12 years, earning ACC coach of the year honors in 2012. When Welch decided to come home, she had to replace a legend on the UCSB sideline, as the program’s first and only head coach, Kathy Gregory, called it quits after 38 seasons. “So few have had the experience of starting a program from scratch, and in a lot of ways it’s easier than coming in and changing up a previously existing program,” said Welch, whose recent recruiting classes at UCSB have earned national notice. “You do it the way you want from the start, but it’s a huge challenge … a rewarding one for sure. “I’m a Southern California girl; my parents were both born and raised in Santa Barbara, and this was a dream spot for me. Following a legend is difficult; Kathy Gregory had unbelievable success, and the history here is amazing. Then you’re trying to get the type of player that meshes well with the kind of offense we want to run and our system. It took a while, then you get to the point where you have all your players … I’m not afraid of challenges, and this is a special place.” The program has had to fight through some roller-coaster moments, where injuries thinned the roster and sent the Gauchos to records of 7-20 in 2015 and 8-20 in 2017. Last year, the team was 17-12 overall and played in the other D-I postseason tournament, the NIVC. “All the girls I’ve played with the past four years had amazing talent, but things haven’t always clicked for us in the past,” Ruddins said. “This year, everything is clicking well. The impact of the young girls has been part of that. So far this year, our main focus is on us and playing our game, our offense and defense, and sticking to the coach’s game plan. Things have been going in our favor.” “We had a tough couple situations with injuries; everyone close to the program knew exactly what was going on, so no one worried about what was happening,” Welch said. “We carry bigger rosters now, for the depth, because we don’t want to be in a situation where we don’t have significant depth. We’re 21 strong, and we love it. There is competition everywhere.” With Cal Poly and Hawaii holding court as the recent dominant powers of the Big West, it’s fair to wonder if UC Santa Barbara is on the cusp of breaking through the barrier. However, the Gauchos are coming at this from a different direction. “We try not to focus too much on rankings. We’ve taken every opponent we played this year super seriously and treated every team with the same respect I would hope teams would give us,” Ruddins said. “This weekend will be a really great test for us against Hawaii, who’s been dominant. Sweeping them last year at Hawaii is probably one of my most memorable games at UCSB. This year has gone as well as you could have hoped. There are a lot of emotions going into my last season … we have a good chance at winning the conference, but that will all be put to the test in the next two weekends.” “We measuring ourselves by how good we can be. The bottom line is we’re a really good volleyball team, and it’s shown in our results,” Welch added. “We’ll get to continue to play against great teams and see how we’ll measure up. You try to prepare and go out to compete; we know we can play with anybody, and that’s what is important. “You get through a big win and feel good about it, and then you have to go to the next one. There’s not a lot of time to reflect. But stepping back for a second, we like the progress we’ve made last year, and we made some adjustments this spring that are now paying dividends. We’re excited about the type of student-athlete we have in our program, and the recruiting interest … it’s bright for the future.”  photo by ENP Photography
NOTE: 2019 will mark the third year of the revitalized, revamped National Invitational Volleyball Championships, which is a D-I postseason tournament dedicated to expanding the profile of deserving women's volleyball programs. We will check in on various teams through this season, with a particular eye to high-achieving mid-major programs. by Kyle Koso When you’re trying to author a notable volleyball season, it’s always important to ring up some signature wins. Much is left to be done for the 2019 version of the Towson Tigers, but there’s no arguing with the first chapter, which has the team at 12-2 overall and enjoying a terrific start to Colonial Athletic Association play. The Tigers went on the road and took down Delaware (another team with double-digit victories) as well as James Madison, the preseason favorite to win the conference. Towson head coach Don Metil knows the route in guiding his team to quality finishes (the Tigers were 104-26 from 2014-17), so there’s nothing curious about his team responding in a big moment. But each roster, each specific group, needs those moments that prove all the hard work and sacrifice is bearing fruit. “We showed well in both, and the unique things is we had to perform differently in both matchups. Delaware, we had to contain a very heavy-laden outside team, and with JMU, the mindset of getting over the hump,” said Metil, whose first team at Towson (2013) went 10-24 before going 27-5 the next season. “Not only were they the preseason favorite, they’ve knocked us out of postseason play on numerous occasions. We’re in the gym hoping to learn about situations we can better control when we play JMU the next time. We played really well in sets 3 and 4 after we dropped set 2; this team responded very well. At certain points in sets 3 and 4, to be up 10 points on the preseason favorite, is a statement in itself. “Coming into this year, Delaware is on the rise, Elon looks good, you can’t overlook a Charleston program that knows how to win, and Hofstra … we have some really important matches coming up where we can’t falter in execution.” Indeed, the schedule marches on with home matches against Northeastern (7-7, 1-1 Colonial) on Friday and Hofstra (8-6, 1-1) on Sunday. Senior setter Marrisa Wonders agreed that the road sweep is a sign that the Tigers are physically and mentally in a good spot. “Both of these wins have been really big,” said Wonders, who is averaging nearly 11 assists per set. “Everyone says Delaware is our rival, and with James Madison being ranked atop the conference … this summer when we were practicing, we knew we had the abilities to be a really good team, but we weren’t sure how that would transfer against a team like JMU. It was great for us and such an encouragement to beat them in four (sets); we showed the ability to play really well.” One reason Wonders is piling up assists is the depth and breadth of Towson’s hitting crew, which has three players topping 100 kills and two others at 99 and 98. Emily Jarome leads the way with 146 and is fulfilling the promise shown last year as a freshman; senior Olivia Finckel has 136 kills, and there’s been impressive work done by freshman Lydia Wiers (109 kills, .424 hitting percentage). Wiers’ emergence has come as a bit of a surprise, as she’s cashing in on seam opportunities and the 1-on-1 chances that come when defenses are keying elsewhere. “They are all really dynamic, and it’s great to have so many options to go to,” Wonders said. “With our passing being as good as it’s been, it’s nice for me to be able to read (the opponents) and know what we have available and what we don’t. We can go to anyone at any time.” Wonders has been the steadying force, possibly because she’s long familiar with how things change and evolve on a volleyball team. While she had plenty of touches as a freshman and sophomore, she split time on the job in 2018, but is now steering the ship as the primary setter. Teammates still remember last year when Wonders was fighting through a shoulder injury, affecting her to the extent she had to serve underhanded during a hard-fought match with Ohio State. “I was in four rotations as freshman and sophomore, then last year split it with a senior,” she said. “It could be frustrating me, for the (opposite hitters) and the other setter; it’s hard to maintain as much involvement when you get subbed out, and when you get put back in, you have to re-energize yourself. We’re all so competitive and working so hard in the practice gym to prove we deserve time on the court. You get motivated to keep pushing if you’re not on the court.” One other dynamic that Towson had to tackle this year was shaking free of last year’s struggles, which led to the Tigers finishing just 17-15 overall. There were some tough five-set losses and just enough difficulty dealing with injuries to keep the team from stringing together long stretches of top-caliber play, except for a six-match winning streak at the end of the season. But the presence of so many quality hitters in 2019 has been a game-changer; the team has also diversified itself defensively to deal with the absence of Anna Holehouse, the program’s all-time leader in digs and the unquestioned focal point of a critical aspect of the game plan. “Those (season, 2018 and 2019) were two different animals … I thought we had quote, unquote, horses in the program last year at least in the oppo positions, so we scheduled a bit tougher. Looking back, we had injuries that maybe didn’t allow us to perform against Ohio State, and lost in five sets to Missouri at home,” Metil said. “Looking back, 17-15 was pretty good, all things considered. We dropped a five-setter to Princeton; this year’s squad maybe established themselves early on when we beat Princeton in Week 2, 3-0. “You could be talking to a team that’s 14-0 right now. We’re learning how to respond in situations where we start to let big leads slip away, like when we were up 17-9 in set 4 against Coastal (Carolina) and then lost in the fifth. This crew is incredibly bright, and that allows us to focus more on educating them, how to behave and respond and control emotions ... to control negative self-talk and get through those situations.” |
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