Vball Coach Horsmon's Thoughts

Changes are on the way for UD Volleyball beyond the already announced changes in the staff. Coach Tim Horsmon has started his second stint as UD's head coach and there are some things we agree on totally. I have mentioned over and over that everything begins with the first pass and if you don't control the ball on serve receive you are at a huge disadvantage. That is one of the reasons that I love watching Janna Krafka when she is playing her best. I always admired Coach Horsmon's team for their defense and passing skills.

I had the opportunity to pick coach Horsmon's mind a little bit about everything related to UD volleyball and hope this gives fans some good info during this dead period.

"I think I am much better coach in a number of areas. I of course still think that the game begins with your first touch so you have to be able to pass and defend to control a point. We have probably become a little more dynamic in blocking and running a faster offense with a little more variety of ways to score. I've had the chance to coach against a number of strong programs and coaches and t makes you better and more prepared in seeing a variety of styles of play".

"I think our offense will be faster than what you saw this past Fall. We haven't been able to work with Jill yet with her being a little banged up. It should be a fun offense to watch and also tough to defend. That of course is predicated on passing and a great setter locating to play at this tempo. Alaina already looks very comfortable at this speed and I think has great tools to have a good year".

"I think there is talent on this team and it's just putting
them in positions to be successful. We of course lost two talented senior attackers in Shayne and Megan but we will work hard this Spring and see who steps up and is ready to get the ball in big situations. I think our strength right now will be balance offensively and each attacker contributing. Again, if we can speed up the tempo we can get our attackers a few more solid looks a set".

This is good news for Alaina Turner and Jess Sloan (incoming freshman). Jess is taller than Alaina but both are quick and athletic and a fast offense should make them more productive.

There are two schools of thought behind running your offense (and a middle ground). If you have big 6'4" outside hitters such as Stanford you run a slow offense. You give your hitters big high sets and assume that they will overpower the blockers enough times to win the match.

If you don't have those big powerful outside hitters a fast offense can be more productive, especially when you face big physical teams. With a fast offense the passes are lower and reach the setter quickly. The setter makes fast decisions on where to set the ball and the sets are low, maybe 2' to 3' higher than the net. This gives the hitters many more one on one opportuntiies against the opposing blockers. Many times the hitter goes up without a blocker in good position and hitters can terminate a high percentage of those points.

UD Volleyball fans should immediately think of recent Xavier teams when it comes to fast offenses. The Men's Olympic team went from medioce to champions when they employed a much faster offense.

I doubt that Coach Horsmon knows at this point how fast the offense will be but it will be interesting to see the change.

UD's blocking was amazing last year but imho the blocking style used affected the team's defense. At times it seemed to be a block or a point for the other team. When you use an old style traditional block it is really easy for the team to read where the hitter's power alleys are and position yourself in the right spot. With swing blocking everything closes or doesn't close at the last second making it hard for defensive players to position themselves for digging. When I asked Coach Horsmon for his thoughts he responded:

"I don't want to fix it if it's not broken.... We were teaching a modified swing block and I think the concepts are pretty similar. Of course Shayne and Megan helped to make this team a strong blocking team so some of this personnel. There are advantages to each blocking technique. The swing block allows your players to be more athletic but with so many moving parts everything has to be done correctly. It also changes what your floor defense sees. I like the swing block footwork with less hand movement. I think this allows for you to be dynamic with your feet but a little more disciplined with your arms and hands and easier to read behind. In my opinion it also reduces the number of negative touches on the block".

UD will miss Megan Campbell (one of the best middles ever at UD), Shayne Brown and Ally Morey. The primary setter from last year Jenna Jendryk was injured in the A10 tournament. Even though Ally Morey played amazingly well as her replacement it was the final straw in ending UD's string of reaching the ncaa tournament. These hard working seniors deserved a better fate.

I asked Coach Horsmon about Jenna's progress following knee surgery.

"She's working really hard in the training room right now. She is close to being off of crutches I think. She's having great technical setting practices with Audrey right now of course with no movement. I like what I've seen from her and how she responds to coaching". Because the team is technically without a setter right now "Ally has been great in coming in two days a week of our three and will set for us for our tournaments".

I mentioned earlier that I love watching Janna Krafka play as anyone who played setter would. I have only watched one person (a former woman teammate) pass the ball as well as Janna when she is on her game. I think that Coach Horsmon will bring out the best in Janna Krafka and asked for his thoughts on her and other players in the back row.

"I like this group and the attitude they bring. I think it can be a strength of our with continued work this Spring. I've really enjoyed Janna in the gym so far. She is very athletic and is relentless in pursuing the ball. I'd like to to see her develop as a leader in that position and I think she can do that".

It appears to me that Coach Horsmon has created a great recruiting staff. Teams often lose two years of recruiting when a coaching change occurs. Thankfully Jess Sloan has stuck with her commitment to UD which gives UD an option for left outside hitter this year.

"Recruiting is the life blood of a program and I think you always have to have an eye on who you hire who can be an asset in this phase of running a program. We have been working very hard at this since our arrival to get moving and put us in as strong a position as we can to attract high level players to UD. We do have numerous positions to fill for this upcoming season as well as next season. We have been really aggressive to get in the game with some players late in the game for the 2014 season".

Individual workouts started sometime in February so the players have already been working hard in preparation for spring games.

That's it for now