Dixie State University women’s volleyball team is disappointed with the performance at the Alumni game.
The women’s volleyball team had a scrimmage Saturday with DSU volleyball alumni.
“Most of these players have played very recently, so it [was] a very exciting game,” head coach Robyn Felder said. “We have been preparing for about two weeks now for the alumni game and our last two weeks of pre-season.”
The current Dixie team defeated the alumni 4-1. Felder said this was a very seasoned group of alumni, and they played great.
“Today was really hard for us to find our energy and our rhythm against the alumni,” said libero Alex Anderson, a junior integrated studies major from Prescott, Ariz. “They are good players, but we should have won every single game, which was kind of disappointing for us.”
DSU recently played in a tournament Aug. 23-24 at Westminster College where they went 4-0 at Behnken Field House.
“[That tournament] gave us a lot of momentum and confidence,” Felder said. “I am just hoping to build on that and work to get better.”
Last year DSU went 7-14 overall and 5-11 in conference, and this year the team is striving to not settle for less.
Felder has confidence that her team will succeed with the first official regular season game on Sept. 6 against Northwest Nazarene University.
“My expectations for this team are really high,” Felder said. “I have nine girls who are returning that should give us a lot of experience and leadership. Plus, I picked up four junior college kids this spring and fall that will add depth and experience as well.”
Felder said all of the girls are standing out at different times and in different ways, although there are a lot of women on the team this year .
Felder said a lot of players have stood out. Some of those players stood out for effort, others stood for leadership and others for aggressiveness.
“I am just looking for the top six girls that have the best chemistry on the court and can do their job,” Felder said.
Felder said the seniors are leading by example, and the underclassmen are getting better each day.
“I feel like the women are getting into the system and being more disciplined on the court,” Felder said. “It will be the small things that will make the difference this year. If we can do those things week in and out, we will be successful.”
Felder said the little things such as being disciplined on blocking, getting back to base, reading the hitter and covering are what win games.
“These are all the little unseen elements that make a huge difference during the rally,” Felder said. “We are working to be more disciplined late in the rally and trying to take big swings when we are out of system.”
Anderson said the Storm’s offense is doing exceptionally well, and as long as the team can continue working well together, DSU can win region.
“We feel really confident with this team,” Anderson said. “Our coach did good recruiting, and we have a lot of new, strong hitters and players.”
Anderson said the offense is going to make all of the difference. She said last year DSU had a good defense and could dig up anything, but this year the hitters are hitting in the positives, which is new for the team.
“I am looking forward to a great season,” Felder said. “We play in a tough conference, and I feel like these girls are up to the challenge. They thrive on hard work and hustle, and I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this year. Either way, we’re going to continue to grow and get better.”
