Volleyball Head Coach Laura Kuhn Discusses the New Season
On her transition from Kansas to College Station:
“The transition was really fast. It’s been awesome to be here this fall and feel settled because we were on the road so much recruiting, and then camps and all that in the summer, so this has been the best time. I really felt like I was all over the place, but now we’re all settled and our families are all here, so it’s been awesome. I love the people here; that has felt like home. This feels like home.”
On her first season as a head coach:
“It’s been pretty seamless, and I think that’s because of my staff and the assistants that I brought in. We’re all very close…that has been special for me. People ask me if it feels different, if I’m stressed or if I feel pressure, and I really haven’t because of that. I think the people around you really make you feel balanced, and we really are a balanced staff. The team has been awesome. They’re great kids, and everyone has just welcomed us, so it feels really natural.”
On her biggest takeaways from the Penn State Invitational:
“We saw a response, and we wanted to see a different response from the first weekend. The 3-0 is not ideal. That’s frustrating, but we need that competitive confidence and we need to keep building that. It felt better than Ohio State so that’s positive, but again execution — no matter who the opponent is. That’s one thing we talk about — playing the game and not the name. That execution is what we’ll always focus on and our game planning and what we need to be doing on our side.”
On standouts both on and off the court:
Obviously Hollann [Hans] has been performing at a high level and she will continue to. We need to develop our middles and right-sides so we have that balance in our offense. I think our defense has definitely picked up. [Allison] Fields coming in as a freshman, [Amy] House as a new libero. She’s been solid for us as a leader and pushing herself and developing her game. Makena [Patterson] has been a solid force in the middle. Brookah [Palmer] has been solid for us the last couple weekends. So it comes down to consistency and developing a balance in our offense so it doesn’t have to all fall on Hollann, and we talk about that every match we go into. It’s developing and we’re growing in that, and Camille [Conner] has been tremendous in learning and being open. She does a ton of video and she comes in early and she stays after. They want it, so now it’s just figuring out what it’s gonna take and getting yourself to that next step.”
On facing Russ Rose in his 40th year as head coach at Penn State:
“That was fun. We talked about it up there. It’s ironic, me being in my first year head coaching I get to be there that weekend with him, and he was awesome. I think they’re gonna have a growing season because they have a lot of young kids and they’ve replaced 7 people. He talked about that. He’s consistent in his own personality and the way that he does things. You can learn things from every coach, no matter how long or how short their career has been. To be playing against someone who’s been there 40 years and his assistants that were there — I know them really well. He’s the same as he was back then. They’re in the office watching video, grinding…that’s just how he is. That is being consistent. He’s consistently who he is, so you accept it or you don’t, but you go into that program knowing what you’re gonna get. That’s kinda cool for me to have seen that first hand even though you hear about it.”
On what the Aggies need to do to prepare for the Texas A&M Invitational this week:
“The guys started scouting, watching film on the way home. I watched a little bit too. Three different opponents — they’re three completely different teams, so as we train we’ll start breaking it down and focus on a team every day. It’s gonna be a new challenge because it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. That’s the thing about volleyball, and you see it every weekend. There are upsets because it’s all about match-ups. Every team is different and that’s what’s gonna be big about this weekend. We have to prepare for three completely different opponents. That’s exciting, but it’s another challenge for our team.”
On the team’s level of excitement to play at home after two weeks on the road:
“They’re so excited and so are we. That trip this weekend was really long. It’s growing moments and it’s bonding because you go through that, just like when we went to Europe. But to be home this weekend is gonna be huge for us. Just having everyone here and the energy around campus because of football and soccer being here — it’s gonna be awesome. It’ll be really good for us.”