Coach Deane Webb preaches cohesiveness, improvement as Bobcats prepare for opening weekend of competition
The Bobcats took the court in The Convo for their first practice open to media Monday evening. The team is fresh off its annual intrasquad scrimmage and is prepping for its first competition of the year as it heads to West Lafayette, Indiana for the Mortar Board Premier.
Coach Deane Webb gathered the team before practice to commend it for its behavior. He called the players a cohesive team saying, “You all have the same part.”
A handful of freshmen were standouts during Monday’s practice. Libero Erica Walker showed incredible effort during drills, diving for several balls. Middle blocker Natalie Burchesky — who Webb said is redshirting this season — showed exactly why Webb was complimentary of her abilities during his press conference. Despite her timing being off, the 18-year-old is 6-foot-4 and shows the ability to get high above the net.
Webb spoke at length about improvements the team has to make during this weekend’s competition. He said the players have to work on making their set heights consistent and keeping their hands aggressive, as well as improving on the blocking line.
The gaps in talent and ability between potential starters and potential backups were miniscule during Monday’s practice. Webb told his players not to worry if they’re not in this weekend’s starting lineup because the possibility of a shakeup is incredibly realistic with such a close range of talents.
Webb was tough on sophomore outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek, telling her she needs to slow down her tempo on the attack. Webb is counting on Kosiorek to step into a role that was vacated by Kelly Lamberti, who graduated last season.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“What I tell the team every year is that it's a race. Every team has a list of things that they want to get better at, and hopefully it's not the same things every week because that means you're still working on it. Every team has a list, and it's a race on who can improve the fastest from now until the end of the year. There are a lot of teams, they're pretty good now, but when they get to November they're a little better. We want to make sure that we're a team that's a lot better.” — Coach Deane Webb on opening weekend of competition
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