HailStateVB Spring Practice Report - Week Four
Throughout the spring, HailState.com will be giving you an inside look at the Mississippi State volleyball program’s spring training. Here's our third edition of our spring training report.
It has been a little more than a month since the David McFatrich era began under the lights of Newell-Grissom. Since March 2, 2015, the Mississippi State volleyball program has undergone a change that has led to a new style of play, new energy and a new mindset.
“It has really been a great turnaround for the team,” senior Alex Warren said. “We’re going faster and harder in practices and even though we’re all really tired, it’s all worth it.”
From day one, the message from McFatrich and his staff has been an up-tempo style of play. The goals? Be aggressive, play with high intensity and leave no regrets on the floor.
The adjustment has been a struggle at times, especially physically, as Warren stated. However, the commitment and work from the players, coaches and training and strength staffs have helped make the transition easier as the days go on.
“It’s been going a lot better,” junior Chelsea Duhs said. “The team has adjusted really well and bought into the new system as quickly as possible.”
For Warren and Duhs, two players McFatrich has leaned on as leaders of the Bulldog squad, the transition has been much more than just adapting to the physical demands of practices. The team has also zoned its focus in on learning and implementing the new staff’s techniques and systems that will lead the MSU attack in the 2015 season.
“Right now, we’re really working on getting these new systems down,” Duhs said. “Once we do that, we can speed it up in practice and really get going.”
“Coach talks a lot about how when you’re more aggressive you make less mistakes,” Warren said. “It’s been a big adjustment, but the skill level has also really increased, too. There’s never a day where we’ve thought we’ve done bad. We’re adjusting really well.”
Warren, who has always been looked at as a leader since she first donned the Maroon and White back in 2012, has been a key part of making this transition happen.
“It’s always good being a leader, but it’s definitely different when you have a new coach,” Warren said. “You are kind of like a mediator. You have to constantly be a leader.
As the spring rolls on, so does the transition for the Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs. As with any change, there are moments of struggle. However, the Maroon and White have more than embraced the new mindset that McFatrich and his staff have brought to Starkville.
Four months separate the Bulldogs and the beginning of the 2015 season. While there is still a lot of work to be done, it is clearly evident that so much progress has already been made. Take a step inside the gym that is Newell-Grissom and you can feel the anticipation building for the upcoming year. From the players to the coaches to the support staff, there’s a feeling that big things are coming for this group.
Let the countdown to August begin.