*Last night I said goodbye to my APEX team, and thanks for a memorable first (and likely last) club coaching experience.  A huge thanks to Bill Doyle for bringing me in to the APEX family, and to Dave and Mike for running the show full-time.  I have a new respect for the time and energy club coaches put in to their teams.  And to the young ladies, my wish for you is pure happiness in your futures.  Thanks again for a rewarding experience.

APEX 18-1

**A “see ya later” to the young ladies of NPVB (and 1 member of APEX).  Tomorrow is the last day of final exams, and while some have already left, the others will be heading out of NP soon for a relaxing summer break.  You are such a joy to coach.  I will miss you in the coming weeks, and look forward to getting back together in August for what is sure to be a wonderful journey.

2012 Athletic Ceremony

NPVB

***And “hello again” to my #1 team.  Stephanie, Molly and Madelyn make great sacrifices for me to coach.  Add in the club coaching, NPVB off-season training and lacrosse officiating, and weeks have passed where I saw them for hours rather than days.  As 2 of the 3 have come to an end, with lacrosse finishing up in the next couple of weeks, I am so looking forward to spending time with those most important to me.

Madelyn (L) & Molly (R)

This wraps up my 10th year at New Paltz.  Wow, can’t believe all that’s happened in the last decade.  Looking forward to 10+ more, but not before enjoying summer vacation at home by the pool.  This is likely my last blog until August.  Thanks for reading and happy summer!

  Here is the spring edition of the Hawks Nest Newsletter.

Hawks Nest Newsletter 3.3

In this edition:

-Team Captains for 12-13

-End of Season Awards 2012

-Borrelli wins Chancelor’s Award

-Seasons Best Swims 2012

Senior Melinda DiGiovanna recently accepted an opportunity to continue her playing career while pursuing a Master’s Degree at Durham University in Durham City, England.  Durham University competes in the British Universities and College Sport league.  Their rules allow any student to compete in athletics.

Melinda joins 6 other ladies from the U.S. out of a group of 50, representing New York, California, Texas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Arizona, and the Carolinas from Division I & II volleyball programs.  Melinda was the only Division III player selected.

Melinda will get her Masters in Education.   Durham University is the 5th best University in the UK out of 116 and in the World Top 100 Schools.

I am very proud of her and wish her all the best in this exciting opportunity.  Maybe she’ll let us visit sometime!

This past Saturday was my 2nd favorite volleyball day of the year- Alumni Day!  For those of you wondering, my #1 favorite is the first day of preseason, of course. Twenty alums turned up from all over the east coast to re-connect and play with our current team.  Reminiscing is the best part.   The stories are funnier each year and the love grows deeper as time passes.  Some good, and not so good volleyball was played, and the current team members were able to meet those who are the foundation for our current success.

At the end of the games, the group split up by uniform number, so the current team members could learn more about those who came before them with whom they have something in common.  Later in the day, we enjoyed a reception, some went to the softball game, and others on a hike.

In all, there were tons of smiles, lots of laughs, and an overall great time.  I miss you all, and you hold a dear place in my heart.

The Carol Eckman Society Breakfast, where former NPWS player Keegan Peck was honored, was a HUGE success!!  Carol Eckman was a former Assistant Professor of Physical Education and Coach of basketball, softball, tennis, and field hockey at New Paltz from 1962 until 1967.  The Carol Eckman Society strives to serve as an extension of her far reaching ideals of courage, honesty, dedication to purpose, and above all else, commitment to student-athletes.  Keegan is a perfect example of what this award is all about!!  Her former teammate, Amanda Picarelli presented the award, and both of them did our program proud!!!  Congratulations Keegan – and thank you for all you do for our program!!!  Love Coach

Well, what can I say….it was another incredible Alumni Weekend with 33 Alumni coming to the game on Saturday!! It was great to see everyone – and their families (lots of babies!!!!) on such a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Thanks for all of your support for our program and we are so glad that you are all still part of our family.  I would also like to thank everyone for my gifts!!  Love them!!!!

So put it in your calendar for next year – last weekend in April – and we hope to see even more of you!!!

Also – I will be getting more information on the Summer 2013 Italy Alumni Tour!!!  So stay tuned and save your money!!

Thanks again for everything and I am so proud to be a part of this NPWS Family!!

The NPWS team have had a very productive Spring Season!!  We have had some great early morning practices and things are looking up for the up coming fall!  Sunday we traveled to Misericordia University where we had two good results against Scranton 0 -0, and Eastern 1-1, and then two losses to Wilkes and Misericordia both 0-1.  The losses were tough games where we able to learn a lot about the things we still need to work on.  It was great competition and a great learning experience for everyone.  Now we look forward to our last couple of practices, and the Alumni Game this Saturday at 3:00pm on the Turf field!  Come and see us play against the ‘old ladies’!!!  lol

Took the team down to Stevens Institute of Technology yesterday.  I mentioned in my previous blog how excited I was to make this trip after a great first 3 weeks of spring practice.  What a great trip it was!

Priska and I went in with 5 set lineups that we cycled through twice.  We were playing to win, but the lineups were more about seeing different combinations play together and providing an opportunity for each player to showcase herself in different roles.  Everyone played very well over the course of the day.  Everyone had bursts of Outstanding throughout the day.  And 1 major component stuck out:

We’ve really become a true team.  Court communication was as strong as it’s been in years.  Priska and I have been pushing them to “say what you see” while play is going on.  That it’s ok to say the wrong thing, for that tells us what they’re “seeing” and an ability to them teach them where a better place to look is.  This is easy to do in the comforts of our practice gym.  We wondered what would happen outside the comfort of our practice.  Well?  We had it from start to finish.  And another way our court communication greatly improved is in communication between teammates.  We’ve removed the vague words of “help”, “go”, and “c’mon” with specific words such as names.  Our setter is no longer yelling “help” when she can’t get to a pass.  She’s yelling “(enter name here)”, giving a teammate a specific instruction which prevents hesitation and uncertainty.  Same is true in serve receive, on defense, and the back row telling the front row what’s open while she’s going to the ball.  TRUE TEAM PLAY!

There were times we missed hitter coverage assignments, and the hitter got blocked, only to turn and implore her teammates to have her back.  Wonderful!  That’s being a good teammate!  If a person was out of position on defense, a teammate told her where to be.  Again, this is great!  It’s about specific, clear, task oriented dialogue in a competitive setting and challenging each other to pursue excellence.  We’re not worried about hurting feelings or stepping on toes.  We’re playing together and communicating together all in an effort to give ourselves the best chance to score points and win games.

What is the root of this change for the better?  The effort the team is making off the court to spend more time together, get to know each other on a deeper level, learn to truly understand each other, so perspective is always kept regardless of the tone or environment.  Recently they went as a group to play laser tag.  It was fun, but even better allowed them to connect in a different type of competitive environment.  And as they are reaping the benefits, they are motivated to share these activities more frequently.

Just last week, our team participated in College Clean-Up Day, picking up trash outside the grounds of the Athletic & Wellness Center.  Probably not as much fun as laser tag, but another way to get together in a different way, work together, and accomplish a task.

I’m really proud of our team.  I’m really proud of each person individually with the effort they’ve made.  And I’m really upset we only have 4 days left!  We will make the most of it, continue to become closer, and reap those benefits for life.

Well, the quest for our second Championship has begun.  We have started with some very productive early morning practices and it has reminded me how good we can be!!  We are playing really well, and they have all worked hard this off season to stay fit!!  We have two exciting events this spring that we are getting ready for.  The first one is a tournament on April 22nd at Misericordia College where we play Eastern and Misericordia (who were both in the NCAA Tournament as well this past season) and Scranton and Wilkes – both excellent programs from Pennsylvania.  So it will be great competition and we are looking forward to it.   The final competition of the Spring will take place on April 28th – at our annual Alumni Game!!  There are about 30 alumni expected that day to take on our team (and have a lot of fun!!).  So we are looking forward to a great end of the semester.  Then it is on to the summer where the preparation for the second championship continues!!  

We are going to be bringing in about 10-11 new players this fall and we look forward to adding them to our family.  Its been a great year and we can’t wait to start again in the fall!!

Speak to you all soon!!

Coach

PS – Attention All Alumni – we will be presenting information about the Summer of 2013 Alumni Trip to Italy at the Alumni Weekend!!  If your interested in the trip and can’t make the Alumni Weekend let me know!!

I guess I’m a little slow.  My last blog led us into spring break and the excitement of spring practice.  Well, we’re already halfway through!  And I can say I’m quite happy with our progress.

Now, the cautious part of me doesn’t want to give away what we’ve been doing in a public forum.  I can say this.  I’ve talked in the past about how hard the team was working on strength & conditioning.  Exciting to me is seeing the difference in the level of play, or dare I say, their power.  And with a season under their belt, our freshmen are playing with confidence making practice so much more competitive.

Many of our practices are at 7am or 8am.  Once we get going, you’d never know what time of day it is.  The group is so into it you’d think it was the middle of the afternoon!  I guess I sound like a proud coach.

While we savor each day of the 16 we’re allowed, I can’t help but look ahead with excitement to April 15, when we’ll head to Stevens Tech for a multi-team scrimmage.  The chance to showcase the new NPVB in that setting will allow Priska and me to use our final week of practice wisely as we then look ahead to the 2012 season.

If you’re around the Stevens area, stop by!  I think we start at 10am, and we’ll be there for the day.