Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Preseason Update: September 11
September 11, 2020 | Volleyball
On Wednesday, the SEC announced the schedule for the 2020 fall volleyball season, which included the details for Mississippi State volleyball's eight-match slate. The Bulldogs will open and close the fall with home weekends in the Newell-Grissom Building, sandwiching two road series in between. More details on the announcement and MSU's opponents can be found here.
Earlier this week, MSU volleyball head coach Julie Darty Dennis spoke with Jim Ellis on his radio show, The Sports Edge. Below is an excerpt of their conversation.
Q: How do you adjust to all of the changes to scheduling and procedures that this 2020 season is bringing?
JDD: We are just excited and grateful that we are going to have the opportunity to compete this fall. There are so many safeguards and protocols in place for our kids that we feel like we have them under a really good umbrella right now where it's safe to play. Obviously, their health and safety and their wellness is the top priority for us, and everybody's in a really good place. So, we're going to try to roll the balls out and compete this fall and play some matches. I've never played a hybrid schedule before with the fall and the spring, but it seems to be kind of the best of both worlds. We're just looking forward to actually getting to compete in Newell-Grissom this fall.
Q: When you put a squad together, how difficult is it when you have so many newcomers (nine) and how has that worked so far?
JDD: …The new is not a bad thing. Going into year three here, we feel like we're putting together a puzzle almost where we're looking for certain pieces. While some of those pieces might be freshmen, some might be transfers, as long as the whole product can become something that we're really proud of, that's what we're trying to do. Adding those late transfers that we got with Margaret Dean and Lauren Myrick, those were huge pieces to our puzzle. We have a lot of kids that come from winning programs…and the returners, we have Gabby Waden on the right and Deja Robinson in the middle who have been consistent performers in their freshmen and sophomore years.
…They [all] have been together in the gym since they got here in the middle of the summer and they've been playing and getting to know each other as people on and off the court so I feel like they're melding together really well. There's a good chemistry with this group and just being able to play volleyball, to me, is the outlet that they need. That's what they're bonding over and they're coming together through their sport. It's been nice to watch them enjoy each other. We're actually deep in a lot of positions. That's never happened, where it's a competition every single day to get your job, so that's been fun to watch.
Q: As you look at the year ahead, what are the areas that you see this squad being an improved squad in over what you've had your first couple of seasons?
JDD: The first thing that people are going to notice when you just look at this team for this season is the physicality. We have physical players in our program now. We have two girls that are 6-3. Having those kinds of blockers and players in our practice gym is only going to help us put out a better product on [matchday]. The physicality is the first thing.
We're still going to be a team that feeds our middles and our rights as much as we can, and to do that we have to pass the ball. We have some ball control players now that are passing at a super high level and I think it's going to make it seem easier for us to score and have more options offensively. We're going to be the same gritty team defensively. That's just who we are, we're just going to dig balls and try to create opportunities for ourselves, but I think the physicality and the ball control are going to be two dramatic things that our fans are going to see right off the bat.
Q: Eight games over six weeks, that's the fall schedule. We don't know about the spring yet. Do you talk to your ball club about what you would like to see them accomplish?
JDD: This season, as much as it counts and we're hoping that there is an NCAA Tournament in the spring, …so much of it is just about being present and taking it one day at a time, one hour at a time and one match at a time. Right now, we're just focused on every single time we get to train, let's be focused and present in that hour that we're in the gym together. Every single hour you're in the weight room, be focused on that time you're in the weight room together because there's so much unknown.
…I'm really excited because if we get to play eight matches against four quality opponents, we kind of get to go back to the drawing board over the break and figure out what worked and what didn't work. There's a lot of time to retool and polish stuff up before we would essentially play our second part of our season this spring.
Q: What is the competitiveness like in the gym over the past few weeks?
GW: It's been very competitive. You can definitely see the grit and everyone's pushing to be better than the person next to them or make the person next to them better. It's just everyone being cool, calm and collected and getting ready to play.
Q: How have you progressed since last season?
GW: I have definitely progressed from the mental aspect. I took a lot of time last year to think about how I could have been mentally tougher in certain game situations. In the physical aspect, the coaches have been on me about different shot selections and how certain things could help with different opponents and just staying true to who I am and getting better all around.
Q: How do you feel about the upcoming season?
GW: I feel good. I love the energy we bring to the table as a team. and I love how competitive we are. All of us are all in and we're bought in to the process and we all trust each other enough and we just want to win games.
Lilly Gunter is one of nine newcomers to the MSU volleyball program in 2020. The freshman from Oviedo, Florida, set school records for digs (1,882) and aces (149) at Oviedo High School and was a three-time first-team all-state selection as well as an AVCA All-Region honoree as a senior.
Q: How have the first few weeks of practice been?
LG: The first few weeks have been good. We've been working hard on the little things, and we're taking advantage of the time we have.
Q: As a freshman, how have you adjusted to the new environment? How have the older players helped you?
LG: It definitely has been hard getting into the rhythm of things, but my teammates and coaches have helped me a lot. It definitely was nerve wracking coming in, but I don't have those feelings anymore. We've hung out with [the veterans] off the court to create chemistry and our experiences on the court have helped that as well.
Earlier this week, MSU volleyball head coach Julie Darty Dennis spoke with Jim Ellis on his radio show, The Sports Edge. Below is an excerpt of their conversation.
Q: How do you adjust to all of the changes to scheduling and procedures that this 2020 season is bringing?
JDD: We are just excited and grateful that we are going to have the opportunity to compete this fall. There are so many safeguards and protocols in place for our kids that we feel like we have them under a really good umbrella right now where it's safe to play. Obviously, their health and safety and their wellness is the top priority for us, and everybody's in a really good place. So, we're going to try to roll the balls out and compete this fall and play some matches. I've never played a hybrid schedule before with the fall and the spring, but it seems to be kind of the best of both worlds. We're just looking forward to actually getting to compete in Newell-Grissom this fall.
See you soon VolleyDawg friends & FaMily!!! #HailState #Oct17 https://t.co/uZEoUUjkGv
— Julie Darty Dennis (@julesdarty) September 9, 2020
Q: When you put a squad together, how difficult is it when you have so many newcomers (nine) and how has that worked so far?
JDD: …The new is not a bad thing. Going into year three here, we feel like we're putting together a puzzle almost where we're looking for certain pieces. While some of those pieces might be freshmen, some might be transfers, as long as the whole product can become something that we're really proud of, that's what we're trying to do. Adding those late transfers that we got with Margaret Dean and Lauren Myrick, those were huge pieces to our puzzle. We have a lot of kids that come from winning programs…and the returners, we have Gabby Waden on the right and Deja Robinson in the middle who have been consistent performers in their freshmen and sophomore years.
Lefty Hammer 🔨 #HailState🐶 | @francescamcbr20 pic.twitter.com/CPgbilIE4q
— Mississippi State Volleyball (@HailStateVB) September 8, 2020
…They [all] have been together in the gym since they got here in the middle of the summer and they've been playing and getting to know each other as people on and off the court so I feel like they're melding together really well. There's a good chemistry with this group and just being able to play volleyball, to me, is the outlet that they need. That's what they're bonding over and they're coming together through their sport. It's been nice to watch them enjoy each other. We're actually deep in a lot of positions. That's never happened, where it's a competition every single day to get your job, so that's been fun to watch.
Q: As you look at the year ahead, what are the areas that you see this squad being an improved squad in over what you've had your first couple of seasons?
JDD: The first thing that people are going to notice when you just look at this team for this season is the physicality. We have physical players in our program now. We have two girls that are 6-3. Having those kinds of blockers and players in our practice gym is only going to help us put out a better product on [matchday]. The physicality is the first thing.
We're still going to be a team that feeds our middles and our rights as much as we can, and to do that we have to pass the ball. We have some ball control players now that are passing at a super high level and I think it's going to make it seem easier for us to score and have more options offensively. We're going to be the same gritty team defensively. That's just who we are, we're just going to dig balls and try to create opportunities for ourselves, but I think the physicality and the ball control are going to be two dramatic things that our fans are going to see right off the bat.
Q: Eight games over six weeks, that's the fall schedule. We don't know about the spring yet. Do you talk to your ball club about what you would like to see them accomplish?
JDD: This season, as much as it counts and we're hoping that there is an NCAA Tournament in the spring, …so much of it is just about being present and taking it one day at a time, one hour at a time and one match at a time. Right now, we're just focused on every single time we get to train, let's be focused and present in that hour that we're in the gym together. Every single hour you're in the weight room, be focused on that time you're in the weight room together because there's so much unknown.
…I'm really excited because if we get to play eight matches against four quality opponents, we kind of get to go back to the drawing board over the break and figure out what worked and what didn't work. There's a lot of time to retool and polish stuff up before we would essentially play our second part of our season this spring.
***
As a sophomore in 2019, Gabby Waden led the Bulldogs with 343 kills and 378 points, and tallied double-digit kills in a team-best 18 matches. The talented middle blocker and right-side hitter from Columbia, S.C. is looking forward to her third season at MSU.Q: What is the competitiveness like in the gym over the past few weeks?
GW: It's been very competitive. You can definitely see the grit and everyone's pushing to be better than the person next to them or make the person next to them better. It's just everyone being cool, calm and collected and getting ready to play.
Q: How have you progressed since last season?
GW: I have definitely progressed from the mental aspect. I took a lot of time last year to think about how I could have been mentally tougher in certain game situations. In the physical aspect, the coaches have been on me about different shot selections and how certain things could help with different opponents and just staying true to who I am and getting better all around.
Q: How do you feel about the upcoming season?
GW: I feel good. I love the energy we bring to the table as a team. and I love how competitive we are. All of us are all in and we're bought in to the process and we all trust each other enough and we just want to win games.
***
Lilly Gunter is one of nine newcomers to the MSU volleyball program in 2020. The freshman from Oviedo, Florida, set school records for digs (1,882) and aces (149) at Oviedo High School and was a three-time first-team all-state selection as well as an AVCA All-Region honoree as a senior.
Q: How have the first few weeks of practice been?
LG: The first few weeks have been good. We've been working hard on the little things, and we're taking advantage of the time we have.
Q: As a freshman, how have you adjusted to the new environment? How have the older players helped you?
LG: It definitely has been hard getting into the rhythm of things, but my teammates and coaches have helped me a lot. It definitely was nerve wracking coming in, but I don't have those feelings anymore. We've hung out with [the veterans] off the court to create chemistry and our experiences on the court have helped that as well.
Players Mentioned
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MB/RS
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