Volleyball Team Has New Attitude
Women's volleyball players show support for each other before their next play.
by Hannah Hopkins
OKWUeagle.com Staff Writer
The Oklahoma Wesleyan University women’s volleyball team faced a huge challenge before they even stepped on the floor for preseason workouts. Their former coach, Kylie Miller, resigned late this summer after her husband accepted a job out-of-state. The university was in a scramble to find a new coach.
The search led them to Sarah Kingery, former OKWU volleyball player and current Admissions employee. The head-coaching job is Kingery’s first time coaching at the college level.
“Being a coach was very unexpected for me, considering how fast the change came. It has been very challenging but I’m definitely enjoying it,” Kingery said.
Despite the sudden change, Kingery quickly pulled the team together and switched the focus to preseason workouts. The team had five practices a day the week before classes started. The players worked so hard during practices that some of them took naps in the gym between workouts to maximize their rest time.
“Preseason was definitely a challenge physically but it was also difficult adjusting to a new group of girls and new coach,” junior Alica Efron said. “The chemistry of the team this year is so great and getting to know all of the girls is so fun.”
Efron is one of seven returners on a team that welcomed eight new freshmen and transfer players.
Team bonding has played an important part in the team attitude.
One important component of the team bonding is their unusual pre-game warm-up. What makes the warm-up so unique? Dancing.
“Before each game, we do the “Hoedown Throwdown” dance from the Hannah Montana movie,” sophomore Michelle Sanger said. “We were watching it on the people mover on the way to a game and several girls started dancing along to it. So the whole team learned the dance in the locker room and now we do it before each game as part of our warm-up.”
All of the fun and bonding has not distracted the team from their goal of having a successful season.
Despite a challenging start to the season and record of 5-10, the volleyball players have worked hard and are trying to remain focused.
“Our main goal this season is to dedicate everything to the Lord and rely on Him for our strength,” Efron said. “Without Him, our season and relationships wouldn’t have worked out as smoothly as they have.”
This team, like every team, has good days and some not-so-good days. Despite not having any serious injuries, several players have had to battle through sickness.
“Sometimes we have tough practices and off days but we push through them,” Kingery said. “I just try to encourage them to work hard and I ask them to give 100 percent. That’s what any coach would ask of their team.”
For Efron, the tough times are just as valuable as the good times. “We are proving to ourselves that even though the season didn’t start like we wanted it to, we have the power and ability to make it end like we want it to.”
