By: Steven Grandy
Director of Media Relations
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After reporting back to campus on Sunday, the Western Carolina volleyball team held its first official practice for the 2021 season on Monday in the Ramsey Center as the team began its quest for a Southern Conference title.
The team opened its preseason drills Monday morning by splitting into position groups and worked on skill development before conducting the first team session in the afternoon.
“Today we wanted to work on some basic skills, serving and passing are always a big deal. We wanted to get our freshmen up to speed so we did a special practice time with them so they could see how we run our offense and defense and what we expect of them,” said WCU head coach Karen Glover. “We finished off the day with a scrimmage so we could see how the players are after the summer.”
The Catamounts return 13 players including three All-Southern Conference performers from a season ago highlighted by first-team and All-Tournament Team selection Merry Gebel and reigning second-team honoree and league Libero of the Year Destinee Dorsey. Julia Gardon, who is among the returners, joined Dorsey on the SoCon’s All-Freshman team in 2020-21.
“I was pleased with how everyone played in the scrimmage. It was a nice first day of competition. I saw some really good things and am looking forward to tomorrow’s practice to build on it,” said Glover.
WCU continues to practice this week as it prepares for a home exhibition match on Aug. 20 against Presbyterian College.
“We want to make sure our offense is clicking. A lot of that has to do with first contact and the tempo of our sets. It will be one of our priorities to make sure that we can run an effective offense and keep the opponent’s defense guessing. We’ll need to fine-tune some things and integrate the new freshman into the system so that we have a cohesive unit,” Glover added.