Texas A&M Volleyball
A&M Volleyball coach Laurie Corbelli on rough weekend, first road tests
On the tough weekend against quality competition...
"You
know, I thought that the team realized how hard and smart we had to play
in order to win. Obviously, we weren't smart enough. We played really
hard but also learned a lot. It is a painful way sometimes of learning ,
but you have to go through those times of adversity. I think overall we
are so happy we had the chance to host those two teams (Stanford and Penn State) in our gym. We
got a chance to really have some good film to study and learn from. We
are looking for that to carry over to the next couple of weekends and
the season."
On how tough competition prepares the team for SEC play...
"We will be starting the SEC in two weeks,
and before then we will play two top-ten teams and a top-25
team. We are learning to prepare to play at that level and how
important our ball control is. When we are being accurate and high-level
first touch or first contact puts us in situations where we can really
compete, we do have the attackers and block that we need. Sometimes the
floor defense, the passing, the very first contact sets the tone of our
sport, much less our game. We are getting better and better at first
touch. We spend the first 30-40 minutes on it in practice, and I know
that eventually it will be at the level we need it to be at."
On what needs the most work right now...
"We
really have studied those videos a lot and have been able to show our
players that blocking has to be at a higher level. We don't have to grow
or jump higher; we just have to be better positioned and timed. I think
those two things, especially position, you have to know what the hitter
has as an option for the set that they're getting and where you need to
set up your block. You need to know that you're trying to take away
from your hitter, and both people have to do that at the same time. That
presents many variables that are difficult to perfect, but ours always
gets better as the season goes. I know we will get there. It has already
gotten better since we started practice three weeks ago. Mostly
blocking things and some serve-receive things. We watched Penn State
pass a lot, and we are trying to do some mimicking."
On traveling to play away this weekend...
"Well,
we got the chance to get on the road for a scrimmage to TCU, so that was
nice because we do play so many freshman that they got to be on the
road, and it didn't count, thank goodness. I don't think it will phase
them too much, though. I think our leaders and returners are doing a better
job every week by remaining calm under pressure and stress and sharing
that with the freshman. They're being good role models. I think the team
is hungry. We gave away some points that we shouldn't have this past
weekend. We have made some changes and added a couple of new plays. It
will be a huge adventure and challenge for sure. I am hoping we can come
away with a few wins."
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