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NEWARK, Del. - The Virginia Commonwealth University volleyball team will look to unseat first-place Delaware this weekend when it meets the Blue Hens Friday at 7 p.m. and Towson University at the same time on Saturday. The Rams enter this weekend’s road contests with an 18-8 overall mark, as well as 6-2 in Colonial Athletic Association play. VCU is currently second in the CAA’s standings behind the 8-1 Blue Hens. Mat Shelton of VCUAthletics.com recently caught up with VCU Volleyball Coach James Finley to assess his team’s prospects for this weekend.
Coach Finley: I think for us the big thing is we’ve continued to improve and become more consistent as the season has moved forward. Our errors per match have been cut in half. We’ve picked up our serving. Serving has become more intense which helps us block better. We were really concerned because we weren’t one of the best blocking teams in the conference, so we went back to doing some specific things in practice every day. Just the consistency factor has really been the most pleasing to me. VCUAthletics.com: You have a lot of fun with the girls when you’re coaching, a lot of smiles and positive reinforcement. Has that always been your style or am I just at the right games? Coach Finley: I’ve had plenty of the games where it’s been intense. Like the Hofstra game. The tie came off, the sleeves got rolled up. What I try to do is perceive what it is my kids need at that time. Different games, there are different amounts of stress and pressure. We’ve done the work in practice. I’m not fixing anything in the game. All we’re doing in a game is trying to adjust to the other team and maybe talk about what shot selection we’re going to make and if we’re going adjust our defense or blocking schemes or something like that, according to what’s happening. But you know, we’re not going to fix somebody’s technique, those kind of things. They are where they are. What I think most coaches get wrapped up in is that this didn’t play out…and that person’s going to do this a certain way because that’s the way it is. It’s just that whole process of understanding that right now there’s a motivational factor. So, okay, maybe I need to be yelling and pushing and going in that direction. But when that’s not the factor like it was on Tuesday (against Liberty), the girls were completely motivated…that part was great and I was able to coach the way I like to coach. You get to have a lot of fun with the players then. Of course it’s a lot easier when things are going well, but when it’s really tight, that’s the time when they need to know you have complete confidence in them. VCUAthletics.com: You get your first shot at first-place Delaware Friday night in Newark, obviously a huge game. How do you attack them, and what does a win do for the girls mentally and in the standings? Coach Finley: Delaware is a very disciplined team and they just play really hard. They don’t perform at an extremely high level in a consistent manner, but they’re right there at the top of what happens at the top of our conference. What it comes down to I think is unforced errors, confidence, and who can adjust to what the other team is doing quickly so they don’t give up an extra point. We’re going to have our hands full, we’ve got to play really well. They are the best serving team in the conference, so how we pass is going to dictate what we do offensively. But we also work a lot on understanding that that’s the case, and that we’re not going to get flustered about passing. As far as the girls go, obviously a win on Friday night is just huge for confidence and moving forward with what we need to do. One of the goals the girls set was to host the tournament and win the regular season because VCU has never won the regular season. We finished second last year behind Northeastern, and we’ve been everywhere else in that mix. The tournament has never been here, so that’s a really big motivational factor. The reality is within the big picture, Friday is a really big match, but when we get through with that, Saturday is going to be just as big because you can’t win one that’s a real challenge and then go and lose one that you have to win. VCUAthletics.com: Is there a player on this team that is a bit of an “x factor”, perhaps someone who’s a bit off our opponent’s radar but ends up surprising them? Coach Finley: Yeah, absolutely, Kristin Boyd. She’s had two really good matches back to back and she really is that ‘X’ factor. She’ll come up with a big block or kill at the right time. We were in game two (against Liberty) and it was getting tight. Micha and Kelsie were going after it, but Liberty was doing a great job on defense. Then, when we set the ball back to Kristin, and she hit the ball in front of the defender. There was no way to dig it. She was just hitting the ball so sharp. She got a couple of key kills at that time that were dynamic, and then she came up with a big block, and all of a sudden we were able to finish the game. The thing about her that is so amazing is she’s new to the game but hits over .500 at Michigan and makes the all-tournament team. She’s capable of playing at a really high level, even though the game is so new to her. I’m really happy that she’s had a couple of really good matches because her confidence is really growing, so yeah I definitely think she’s our x factor.
…Determined Coach Finley: Mo (Marisa Low) VCUAthletics.com: …Scrappy Coach Finley: Frey (Mariel) VCUAthletics.com: …Smart Coach Finley: Kelsie (Clegg) VCUAthletics.com: …Hilarious Coach Finley: Lenka (Melicharkova) VCUAhtletics.com: …Diva (laughs) Grace (DeMichelis) VCUAthletics.com: Do you have a Halloween costume picked out for the ride home after the game at Towson Saturday night? If so, what is it? Coach Finley: My friends told me I had to be a “blue volleyball Smurf”. Don’t ask me why, I don’t understand either. |
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VCUAthletics.com: Some reverse one word association…I’ll give you a word and you’ll give me the player that first pops into your head…All rights reserved.
