Nov. 12, 2008
Unity among teammates is undoubtedly desirable for any sport, but for the 16 women on the UCF volleyball team, unity is of primary importance.
With first year head coach Todd Dagenais at the helm of the program in 2008, eight eager rookies were added to a squad that already consisted of six veterans and a pair of redshirt freshmen.
One common trait that every player on the team shared was the expectation to learn a new system. The eight returning players now had a new head coach. The trio of transfers were at a new school. The handful of freshmen were having to adjust to the speed of an advanced game and experience being away from home for the first time. Sharing that expectation was the initial challenge that started the bonding process.
Sophomore Lauren Rosenthal, a transfer from Florida State, felt that the transition to UCF was made easier by the fact that every member of the squad was learning a new system together and that the returners welcomed her with open arms.
"The transition was really, really easy," Rosenthal said. "The team did a great job of bringing in all the newcomers and making them feel like they've been here for years. It doesn't feel like my first year by any means. I feel like I've known all these girls my whole life. We're super close. It is a new system right from the get go so everybody is learning it together. It doesn't feel like you went into this established thing. We're all building it together."
Melissa Reinders also knows what it is like to be the new kid in town. Having transferred twice already before landing at UCF, the junior had no problem getting close with her new teammates.
"This is hands down the closest team I have been on and it is because of the team's willingness to always put forth the right foot on and off the court," Reinders said. "Everyone on the team is always there to help out in the weight room, SAQ (strength and conditioning), classes and practice. Just the fact that they all wanted to be here really helped."
One of the things that the returning players did to establish a closeness with their new teammates right away was to schedule open gyms during the offseason. The opportunity to get into the gym to just have fun, with no pressure, let the women establish bonds and reveal their true personalities.
"We helped welcome the newcomers to the team by having a lot of open gyms where there was no pressure," senior Stephanie Serna, one of the Knights' captains, said. We just had fun together playing volleyball. When we were all there we got to see each other's lighter side. It was fun to just go out and play together because we knew that when preseason came it was going to be all business."
Once preseason began, Dagenais was most impressed with how both Serna and fellow captain Jenny Heppert embraced the new system and instilled it within the younger players.
"You see it a lot with upper classmen where they come and say this is the way it is, this is the way you do it," Dagenais said. "The upper classmen this season have welcomed a new way of doing it. It's tough because when you have been doing something a certain way for so many years and then someone comes in and changes that way, you lose a part of your identity. That's what we see. We see a group of seniors who are very flexible and were willing to change what their comfort zone was, and teach that ideal to the younger group. That's what I was impressed with the most."
Reinders also attributes the Knights' closeness to the hard work and dedication that the seniors have put into giving each player on the team a role.
"Our seniors took on the responsibility to make sure that each person plays a role on the team, whether it is on the court, on the bench, or if you are a substitution or starter," Reinders said. "We're always supporting each other on and off the court and the seniors are really stepping up and helping us have the chemistry we need."
Once the seniors created that bond it only strengthened as the team began the 2008 season. With 14 of its first 16 games on the road, the team had only each other to lean on and depend on while waiting in airports, riding the bus, staying in hotels and playing in front of a slim fanbase.
"Definitely the fact that 14 of our first 16 matches were away made us as close as we are," Serna said. "Because of that, we had no one else to turn to but each other. We naturally became a close-knit family. Every weekend I found myself getting closer to another person on the team and found myself creating all these new friendships and close-knit bonds."
Reinders agreed that the length of time spent on the road helped the team get acclimated with each other and allowed them to create new friendships.
"I think having been on the road and all our team bonding brought us really close," Reinders said. "It really brought us together because we got to see who each team member truly was on and off the court, which helped us act as one."
Trust and communication in their teammates has proved to be the right formula for the Knights, as they have put together their best season since 2003 and have already accomplished many of the goals that they have set forth to accomplish this season.
"It is tough to play on the road, but since we had no pressure for anything we felt like we had nothing to lose," Serna said. "We are playing for us right now and I think that it was good to play on the road because we had a point to prove to other teams and to ourselves that we can be successful. Now we can bring that success home and finally show people what we have been doing on the road."
"I am not a big believer that chemistry has a direct result of performance, however, I do know that performance is dictated by trust, communication and many other factors," Dagenais said. "Chemistry affects communication and trust. Although there is not a direct correlation, the chemistry is allowing us to create this communication and trust which allows us to perform better on the floor. If a player struggles, they know there is a team behind them that has got their back, instead of waiting to stab them in the back.
"I think that allows you to climb out of your funk and your struggles without worrying so much. For that indirect reason I think that the chemistry is leading to performance, but I do not think that it is a direct correlation. I think it starts a chain reaction which has led to performance."
Directly or indirectly, the Knights have been proving all season long that united, anything is possible.