Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
VB | Gaels Back at Practice for Spring Conference Season
1/11/2021 1:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Women's Volleyball returned to practice last week in anticipation of the West Coast Conference season getting underway at the end of January. While this season presents a unique set of challenges unlike any other season before, the Gaels are ready to attack those challenges and improve upon their most recent season – fall 2019.
"We could not be happier to be back in the gym with them," head coach Rob Browning said. "The best thing about our job is being with the student-athletes in any capacity. They are extremely excited, they are working really hard, and they are really grateful for the opportunity to be here and so are we."
It's been a long time since the Gaels competed in an indoor match – you'd have to go back to November 26, 2019 when Saint Mary's capped off the season by beating San Francisco in four sets. It's been even longer since the Gaels played at home – November 9.
"It feels like August – just a little colder and a little wetter," assistant coach Mandy Bible noted with a smile behind her face covering. "It's a little surreal, but it's like a normal season. We are getting ready to focus and continuing to get better."
That long layoff between seasons might prove to be a disadvantage for programs if they don't use the time off wisely. Fortunately for a lot of Gaels, they also play beach volleyball at Saint Mary's, and in the case of Kelsey Knudsen, she didn't need to be around her teammates to get some work in.
"My whole family plays volleyball, so even when I'm home, I can pepper with my brother or we can go to the beach and play doubles," noted Knudsen. Long-time Gaels fans will remember that her sister, Lindsey, had a successful career as a Gael that ended during the 2018 indoor season, during Kelsey's freshman season.
There certainly are differences between a fall indoor season and a spring one. When asked about the primary difference, coach Bible talked about how the coaching staff "framed the fall like we would a spring, where it was very developmental, working on very specific skills, and made it a little less competition-based so it would transfer to the spring."
Saint Mary's is in the unique position having one of the smaller rosters in the West Coast Conference. While there are newcomers on the roster who have had to quickly adapt, a lot of the returners have helped carry the load and help seamlessly mesh the two groups together.
"We have a small roster but our quality is amazing," noted Browning. "They work so hard and they are so tight and committed to being great. We've already reaped the benefits of that in the quality of our practices, our team culture, and our gym culture."
Bible went further when talking about the number of players on the roster. "They are getting all of the reps and there is no one they can look to and say 'sub me out!' So it's kind of trial by fire but it was nice this fall to have that extra time so the freshman could develop and figure out the offense."
From a player perspective, the Gaels have several returning players who figure to be high-impact performers on this year's team. Back from last year's team is the second-leading killer from one season ago, Elena Baka, as well as leaders such as Chandler Cowell, Jennifer "Boo" Laird, and Knudsen. Seeing the team interact with each other before a practice is affirmation that this team is a tight-knit group.
"We're excited, we're ready," exclaimed Cowell. "We are grinding in practice, we are having fun, and we have a competitive energy that is unlike anything I've seen before. I think not playing volleyball for so long made us re-evaluate our love for it."
It might be easy to look at statistics when breaking down a team's expected success for an upcoming season, but team chemistry is an underrated and sometimes unquantifiable measure to how a team performs. Laird is one of the Gaels who is extremely confident in the role it will play this season.
"A lot of the girls are really young but they don't look it," Laird said. "They have this sense of confidence in the way we play together. We've been spending a lot of time together off the court which has helped with our team chemistry and I think that is going to transition well when the games start."
Wrapping up our conversation with the Gaels in a light-hearted fashion, the question was asked about how communication during practices and games would go with all individuals not on the court (coaches, trainers, etc.) required to wear face coverings. Cowell laughed when she said "it's very hard to read the coaches with masks on but they do their best to be as concise as they can with their non-verbal communication."
Coach Browning confirmed that statement and added especially for him because he "is known to be sarcastic from time-to-time, but the good kind." After a laugh, he joked about his mask selection for the upcoming season "I told them I'm going to get different masks. One with a scowl, one with a smiley face."
All jokes aside, Browning's eyes lit up above his SMC mask when asked about his overall outlook for the spring season: "I'm as excited about this team as any team that we've ever had."
The conference season officially begins on January 26th and 27th as Saint Mary's takes on Pacific. The format of the 2021 spring season will be two matches on consecutive days at the same location, with exceptions given to local matches, which can be split with one match hosted by each college. As of this publication, the Gaels are set to host at least one match against Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and BYU during the 2021 spring season.
"We could not be happier to be back in the gym with them," head coach Rob Browning said. "The best thing about our job is being with the student-athletes in any capacity. They are extremely excited, they are working really hard, and they are really grateful for the opportunity to be here and so are we."
It's been a long time since the Gaels competed in an indoor match – you'd have to go back to November 26, 2019 when Saint Mary's capped off the season by beating San Francisco in four sets. It's been even longer since the Gaels played at home – November 9.
"It feels like August – just a little colder and a little wetter," assistant coach Mandy Bible noted with a smile behind her face covering. "It's a little surreal, but it's like a normal season. We are getting ready to focus and continuing to get better."
That long layoff between seasons might prove to be a disadvantage for programs if they don't use the time off wisely. Fortunately for a lot of Gaels, they also play beach volleyball at Saint Mary's, and in the case of Kelsey Knudsen, she didn't need to be around her teammates to get some work in.
"My whole family plays volleyball, so even when I'm home, I can pepper with my brother or we can go to the beach and play doubles," noted Knudsen. Long-time Gaels fans will remember that her sister, Lindsey, had a successful career as a Gael that ended during the 2018 indoor season, during Kelsey's freshman season.
There certainly are differences between a fall indoor season and a spring one. When asked about the primary difference, coach Bible talked about how the coaching staff "framed the fall like we would a spring, where it was very developmental, working on very specific skills, and made it a little less competition-based so it would transfer to the spring."
Saint Mary's is in the unique position having one of the smaller rosters in the West Coast Conference. While there are newcomers on the roster who have had to quickly adapt, a lot of the returners have helped carry the load and help seamlessly mesh the two groups together.
"We have a small roster but our quality is amazing," noted Browning. "They work so hard and they are so tight and committed to being great. We've already reaped the benefits of that in the quality of our practices, our team culture, and our gym culture."
Bible went further when talking about the number of players on the roster. "They are getting all of the reps and there is no one they can look to and say 'sub me out!' So it's kind of trial by fire but it was nice this fall to have that extra time so the freshman could develop and figure out the offense."
From a player perspective, the Gaels have several returning players who figure to be high-impact performers on this year's team. Back from last year's team is the second-leading killer from one season ago, Elena Baka, as well as leaders such as Chandler Cowell, Jennifer "Boo" Laird, and Knudsen. Seeing the team interact with each other before a practice is affirmation that this team is a tight-knit group.
"We're excited, we're ready," exclaimed Cowell. "We are grinding in practice, we are having fun, and we have a competitive energy that is unlike anything I've seen before. I think not playing volleyball for so long made us re-evaluate our love for it."
It might be easy to look at statistics when breaking down a team's expected success for an upcoming season, but team chemistry is an underrated and sometimes unquantifiable measure to how a team performs. Laird is one of the Gaels who is extremely confident in the role it will play this season.
"A lot of the girls are really young but they don't look it," Laird said. "They have this sense of confidence in the way we play together. We've been spending a lot of time together off the court which has helped with our team chemistry and I think that is going to transition well when the games start."
Wrapping up our conversation with the Gaels in a light-hearted fashion, the question was asked about how communication during practices and games would go with all individuals not on the court (coaches, trainers, etc.) required to wear face coverings. Cowell laughed when she said "it's very hard to read the coaches with masks on but they do their best to be as concise as they can with their non-verbal communication."
Coach Browning confirmed that statement and added especially for him because he "is known to be sarcastic from time-to-time, but the good kind." After a laugh, he joked about his mask selection for the upcoming season "I told them I'm going to get different masks. One with a scowl, one with a smiley face."
All jokes aside, Browning's eyes lit up above his SMC mask when asked about his overall outlook for the spring season: "I'm as excited about this team as any team that we've ever had."
The conference season officially begins on January 26th and 27th as Saint Mary's takes on Pacific. The format of the 2021 spring season will be two matches on consecutive days at the same location, with exceptions given to local matches, which can be split with one match hosted by each college. As of this publication, the Gaels are set to host at least one match against Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and BYU during the 2021 spring season.
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