Volleyball prepares for fall

By Kaitlyn Edwards | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The Flagler College volleyball team is paving a road to another successful season.

For the off-season, head Coach Taylor Mott plans on applying a well rounded conditioning regiment as well as signing new players to replace the talent lost in graduating seniors.

“I think we will be very competitive next year with all of the new players we will be signing on national signing day, which takes place Wednesday April 14,” Mott said.

Flagler Volleyball will sign six players on signing day with one of them transferring from the University of Tulsa, a Division 1 program.

“The Division I transfer is an aggressive player and has a lot of knowledge and good experience,” Mott said.

Mott believes that if her squad and will have to retain their excellent team chemistry if they wish to go far again.

“Great team chemistry will be the most important part to our success next year,” Mott said. “Our two seniors Meg Weathersby and Rebecca Royal, will be making a strong appearance and impact to the team next season.”

Both Meg and Rebecca will be the team captains for next year.

There will be 16 players on the team, which is the most they have had on the team so far.

“We have a lot of really good recruits coming in so we will play well as long as we stick together as a team,” said freshman Casey Gnann.

“I am excited about all of the recruits that are coming in for next season,” junior Meg Weathersby said. “We have amazing team chemistry and from meeting the recruits I think that they are going to add to that chemistry in a positive way.”

Mott knows that the team’s opponents will be ready for them next year. However, she believes that her team will successful once again.

“I think we will do well next year in the Peach Belt,” Mott says. “I think all the teams will be ready for us and they will be better prepared to play next year.”

Armstrong Atlantic State University will prove to remain one of Flagler’s strongest opponents.

“Armstrong Atlantic is and will continue to be our biggest rival within the Conference,” Mott says.

Finding success will largely rely on how hard the team works over the summer

“What the girls do in the summer makes the biggest difference when fall comes around,” Mott said. “Playing over the 4 month summer break and staying in shape while conditioning is very important.”

Some of the training these athletes do to stay in shape is agility drills, individual and small group practices, sand volleyball, and team practices.

They played in four tournaments in the spring just to stay in shape and continue to condition.

Most of the girls on the team say they play a lot of beach volleyball over the summer to remain in shape.
They all say that having fun and getting along is the main goal. The team took a lighthearted approach this year which Coach Mott thinks really benefited them in the fall.

“During the off-season I have the girls lifting weights, circuit training, cable rotation, ab workouts, and lunges to continue to strengthen,” said trainer Jim Simmons. “The girls work very hard at what they do and usually work in groups of 3-4 while they cheer each other on and push one another.”

Weathersby believes that the open starting positions on the team are sure to promote strong competition amongst players on the team.

“By losing three seniors we lost three of our starting six,” Weathersby said. “There is a lot of healthy competition that comes along with having three starting positions open. All the girls are working hard to earn a position and this competition makes our team even stronger.”