Practice Report: Eagles Continue Work as Season Draws Near
8/21/2010 12:05:00 PM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. – With the main Hanner Arena floor completed, the Georgia Southern Volleyball team got a full week of work in on their home court. After two weeks of preseason camp, the 14-member team has made tremendous progress on the court and blended together off the court.
“It was nice to play in your home facility, where you will actually be competing,” said Head Coach Chad Callihan on the first week of practice in main Hanner. “But I also think, from a competitive standpoint, it gave us the opportunity to practice in a different venue. I think it helps us when we go on the road having the opportunity to practice in a couple different venues here on campus. It prepares us well down the road.”
After the first week of preseason, which featured two-a-days, weight training sessions and various team activities, the Eagles finally hit the gym for their first of several 7:15 a.m. practices of the season. Beginning camp with the basics, the coaching staff is now honing in on specific areas, trying to tone the system before the season opens next week.
“We just had our first morning practice and it was very encouraging, probably our best practice of the week,” noted Callihan. “I thought we got a lot of ball control and serving in. We also had a big emphasis on our defense and particularly our blocking this week. I feel like that area is definitely improving each week.”
With 11 returning letterwinners and three newcomers, a goal of preseason camp is always to blend the components into one unified team and get the freshmen acclimated to collegiate competition. When asked about the performance of the freshmen, Callihan was extremely pleased with what has been seen thus far.
“I've been very pleased with what our freshmen have brought to the court so far,” stated Callihan. “There is always the unknown as far as bringing a recruited player to practice for the first time. But I couldn't be more pleased with their work ethic and their skill level. They've brought a level of athleticism to the team that allows us to compete at a higher level day in and day out.”
With one week remaining before the official start of the season, the Eagles still have a few things to tweak in preparation.
“I think it's just getting everyone completely comfortable with every phase of our system. We talked about having no question marks going into that first week of competition on our system or expectations,” Callihan said. “This week, we just need to fine tune some things and make sure we all understand our roles and responsibilities when called upon so that we are functioning well as a unified team.”
The 2010 volleyball season officially kicks off August 27-28 at the War Eagle Invitational hosted by Auburn. Georgia Southern opens the home slate on Monday, September 6, welcoming Savannah State to Hanner Fieldhouse for a 6 p.m. contest.
Season tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or visiting the official Georgia Southern Athletics website, www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. A season ticket pass is priced at $20, while a family pack, which includes two adult and two children passes, runs at $40.
“It was nice to play in your home facility, where you will actually be competing,” said Head Coach Chad Callihan on the first week of practice in main Hanner. “But I also think, from a competitive standpoint, it gave us the opportunity to practice in a different venue. I think it helps us when we go on the road having the opportunity to practice in a couple different venues here on campus. It prepares us well down the road.”
After the first week of preseason, which featured two-a-days, weight training sessions and various team activities, the Eagles finally hit the gym for their first of several 7:15 a.m. practices of the season. Beginning camp with the basics, the coaching staff is now honing in on specific areas, trying to tone the system before the season opens next week.
“We just had our first morning practice and it was very encouraging, probably our best practice of the week,” noted Callihan. “I thought we got a lot of ball control and serving in. We also had a big emphasis on our defense and particularly our blocking this week. I feel like that area is definitely improving each week.”
With 11 returning letterwinners and three newcomers, a goal of preseason camp is always to blend the components into one unified team and get the freshmen acclimated to collegiate competition. When asked about the performance of the freshmen, Callihan was extremely pleased with what has been seen thus far.
“I've been very pleased with what our freshmen have brought to the court so far,” stated Callihan. “There is always the unknown as far as bringing a recruited player to practice for the first time. But I couldn't be more pleased with their work ethic and their skill level. They've brought a level of athleticism to the team that allows us to compete at a higher level day in and day out.”
With one week remaining before the official start of the season, the Eagles still have a few things to tweak in preparation.
“I think it's just getting everyone completely comfortable with every phase of our system. We talked about having no question marks going into that first week of competition on our system or expectations,” Callihan said. “This week, we just need to fine tune some things and make sure we all understand our roles and responsibilities when called upon so that we are functioning well as a unified team.”
The 2010 volleyball season officially kicks off August 27-28 at the War Eagle Invitational hosted by Auburn. Georgia Southern opens the home slate on Monday, September 6, welcoming Savannah State to Hanner Fieldhouse for a 6 p.m. contest.
Season tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or visiting the official Georgia Southern Athletics website, www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. A season ticket pass is priced at $20, while a family pack, which includes two adult and two children passes, runs at $40.
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