The Georgetown volleyball team is anxious to improve after a disappointing, injury ridden 5-27 season last year.
“We’re healthy and I think that’s improvement number one,” head coach Arlisa Hagan Williams said.
During the off-season, the Hoyas went back to the basics of the game, focusing on technique and improving their overall level of fitness.
“We focused mainly on staying healthy and being in really good shape,” junior outside hitter Jessica Hardy said. “We wanted to come back and not be sloppy. We focused on passing a lot.”
This year’s squad returned to the Hilltop determined to fulfill the team’s mantra of “growing to greatness.”
“Our team came back with the right attitude and they’re working hard,” Williams said. “It’s a very different mentality in the gym, it’s a whole different attitude. It’s really positive.”
The team lost three players during the off-season, but the addition of four new players should help the team make up for the lack of personnel. Freshmen Ashley Malone, Sara Manley, and Tori Resin give the squad much needed depth at a variety of positions. Prepvolleyball.com recognized Malone, a setter from Northern California, as number 85 on their list of the 100 best volleyball players in her class.
“[Malone] brings a lot of potential to our program and some pretty good hands in the setting position,” Williams said.
Samantha Trauth, a sophomore transfer from Colgate University, gives the Hoyas another option at the outside hitter position.
“I think all four of them [could] step right on the court and play a big role for us,” senior captain Caitlin Boland said. “They are all bringing different, much-needed things to the team.”
Despite the new additions, the team is lacking in numbers, and a midseason injury is potentially devastating.
“The biggest thing for us is that we stay healthy,” Williams said. “We have to avoid overtraining our players while making sure we train enough to get better.”
Height, or lack thereof, is another obstacle that the team must overcome to compete against Big East opponents.
“We’re still smaller than a lot of the big teams we play against, like Louisville and Notre Dame,” Hardy said. “We’re really going to have to work on our technique rather than pure strength.”
The team is ranked 12th in the Pre-season Big East coaches’ poll, something they hope to improve. But rather than focus on their dismal conference ranking, Williams’ squad is taking the season one game at a time, starting on Friday with George Mason in the D.C. Challenge Tournament.
“I’m just focused on our first game for now because you never know what’s going to happen,” Hardy said. “You play your first game and everything could change after that. We need to stay consistent throughout our preseason, then we can focus on the conference.”
