Flyer Volleyball bounced back from a disappointing showing the weekend before by starting A10 Conference play with strong matches sweeping
Fordham twice in two days. The team flight was delayed so they missed their Thursday practice in Rose Hill Gym according to Head Coach Tim Horsmon. And that wasn’t the only routine change, as it was the first time the new schedule for conference play was executed by playing both matches against a conference foe in one location on Friday and Saturday.
“We did miss our Thursday practice but it may have been good to give our young women a break,” he said. “I think we will like the (new) format. Far less travel and it gets the team home on Saturday nights and a full day of rest Sunday will be good for the team.”
There is rest and then there is recovery and this year’s squad has had a lot of recovery going on. There has been a new line up every week this season as various players have been receiving crash courses on playing out-of-position to help patch together a line up. Everyone has stepped up but no one has been asked to do and learn more in both the front and back court than freshman DS/L Karissa Kaminsky.
“She has been asked to do a lot and has held up admirably,” Horsmon stated. “Karrissa is a volleyball player and she lives and dies the sport. When we recruited her, we also looked at her as a setter, which she could also do if we needed her. Karrissa is a competitor and understands the game. She will make us better by how aggressively she plays and her volleyball IQ.”
Karrissa had to play outside hitter in the first week because we had several OHs injured. One of those is transfer Brooke Smith. She is not fully recovered but at Fordham, the boot was off her foot. It doesn’t sound like she will be back this weekend, but according to Horsmon, she is progressing.
“(Brooke) is getting closer and I hope she can start moving into a full practice situation sooner than later.”
One player that has returned and had a big-time weekend against Fordham is freshman Mia Otten. Mia plays the right side OH position. She is left handed, and that’s an advantage on the right pin. But in only her second and third Division I matches, and after missing some of the summer and all of fall training camp, Horsmon starts her on the left. She came up big and was the A-10 Rookie of the Week.
“Mia had a great weekend and gave us some point scoring on the left last weekend when we needed it,” he explained. “She had minor shoulder surgery and missed a bit of our summer practices and is still catching up. It was good to see her show up as a left side and give us some depth there and we are excited to get her back to her more natural right side position (when others are healthy).”
Mia and Karrissa aren’t the only freshmen that have been run through crash courses getting ready to play out-of-position. Liana Sarkissian is a Middle Blocker, but has seen action at both the right and left pins as well as coming in late in sets as a blocking specialist.
“I think Liana is going to be really good before she is done here. We’ve asked her to play three different front positions because of our injuries and I believe if we can get her into one or two (positions) you will see her growth at a fast rate,” he explained. “She has the physical attributes to be a dominate player in our league.”
Finally we come to Freshman Taylor Russell. Taylor started at the left side pin this year, wearing a wrap on her knee. She was playing well in her first action after redshirting last season and learning from All-American Jamie Peterson. Taylor wasn't going to get a lot of playing time last year behind Peterson, who she replaced in the lineup this season. But the knee wasn’t responding to antibiotics so it was decided to take a pause, have it cleaned out and she could be back this season.
“Taylor is healing and also hoping she will start her return to play protocol as soon as possibly next week,” her coach said. “She was playing well and gave us some much needed scoring at the pin. I think her redshirt year was really beneficial and I think her last few years as a Flyer will be her best and we will be glad we saved her (with the redshirt).
“I think when we get Taylor and Brooke back we will get back to players playing in their respective positions and hopefully for the first time this year find some chemistry with players playing together consistently.”
Playing at a consistent high level for entire matches has been a challenge for the team so far. Not only have a lot of young players had to endure crash-course lessons every week at new positions, but several fans have commented that they have witnessed the coaching staff working harder than ever during matches to help advance the players. This coaching staff has a plan to help this team get better. The team has talent. That’s evident by players being asked to learn on the fly at any position on the court. Getting players healthy is key but better days are ahead.
Linear Mode
