With just two returning players from last year’s team that finished second in Region VI, Pratt Community College volleyball coach Patrick Hall knows he has his work cut out for him with a new group of young players.
“We have 10 freshmen and only two sophomores,” he said. “But, we feel really good about those freshmen. We really look like at any given point, five out of our six players on the court will be freshmen. So we may take our lumps here and there because of that.”
While experience will be at a premium for this year’s team, there’s plenty of talent to go around with every position stocked with solid new players. The team has been ranked in the preseason at No. 14 in the nation, making them the conference favorites and giving them a large target on their back night in and night out. Hall said he thinks this team will build on its defensive capabilities.
“We feel like we’re going to be better defensively than in the past,” he said. “We have a very good core of liberos this year. One of them is a sophomore and we have two coming in that are very strong.”
The players arrived Aug. 6 and have been practicing hard ever since.
“This is about our sixth day I think,” Hall said. “So we’ve been at it. It’s going pretty well. Generally we only have two formal practices a day, and we work out one other time, usually in the mornings.”
Hall wants to get this team in top shape so they can play through a more rigorous schedule. High school teams play best of three matches, but college plays best of five. At weekend tournaments where you play two matches a day, that’s a lot of volleyball.
“Volleyball is one of those sports, you never feel like you quite have enough time to prepare,” Hall said. “It’s only two matches a day, but the reality is that each match can take two to two and a half hours, so these kids are going all out for five hours each day.”
So far, the team has stayed away from any major injuries. However, Hannah Melichar and Sara Aloisio both are dealing with nagging injuries that are slowing them down.
“Hannah Melichar will probably be struggling with her back all season, it’s a chronic issue for her,” Hall said. “We’re still counting on her, and we’re trying to manage it as best we can. But at the same time, we think she’ll be a big contributor as well.
