By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
For the first time in the program’s history, Fort Hays State University volleyball’s season preparation included a trip abroad for a training camp and matches against local teams. The Tigers traveled to Brazil, and unlike normal seasons, in which the team plays about two or three pre-season games, it gave FHSU an opportunity to play even more to prepare for the upcoming year, which Tiger Head Coach Jessica Wood-Atkins said is a major advantage.
“It’s huge,” she said. “Normally, we can only get two scrimmages in before we start competing. We got seven in. And so when you get that type of competition against people other than yourselves, they expose areas that you need to work on.”
According to Wood-Atkins, the goal is to finish the season in the top half of the MIAA and to make a title-challenging run in the conference tournament. This year, the team includes mostly returners, and the majority of the starting lineup is back to play for the Tiegrs. Wood-Atkins hopes that consistency will help the team achieve success early on and develop good momentum.
The trip to Brazil also had an impact on how positive the team is approaching the season.
“Chemistry-wise, we’ve had to work with some new people, or people who were in roles that maybe they weren’t in before, they’re they’re learning how to sort those things out ahead of time, as far as who’s responsible for what,” Wood-Atkins said. “That goes a long way, plus being in a place that’s cool and that’s beautiful. I mean, the team building is pretty awesome.”
One of the team’s leaders last season was Tallon Rentschler, a defensive specialist and one of the Tigers’ best servers, with 16 aces last season. The senior spoke about how special the experience of going abroad was, and how the team is connected through a special bond ahead of the season.
“It was an awesome experience for the freshmen and for us to go there. Our team without the freshmen before was pretty close, but then it just felt like we didn’t even add anyone,” she said. “[We] just all clicked so easily, and we just had a lot of time together, and we just did so many activities there. So it was really special.”
On the court, the Tigers have a special connection in the front line with three players who are over 6’1 – Gracie Rains, Ashlyn Reeves, and Caiya Stucky Reyes – who form a formidable wall at the net. The three returners managed to lead the team together last year and are meant to lead the pack this season as well.
Wood-Atkins said having these three in the front row is a great advantage for the team and they have even improved over the summer.
“Gracie has worked on expanding her shot selection so that she’s not always hitting the same shots,” she said. “Stucky [Reyes] has worked on making a more dynamic offense, and so moving the ball around even more than she has, so she can get balls passed over the net, which most setters can’t. She can save too, and that makes a big difference in those tight balls.”
The MIAA conference, as it is in so many sports, is extremely competitive for volleyball. Three MIAA schools are ranked in the AVCA Top 25 poll to start the season, so reaching the top half of the conference table is not a simple task. However, the Tigers are more experienced than they have been in previous seasons, with eight returning sophomores. Those players are expected to perform at a high level according to Wood-Atkins.
“I think that we’ve seen them grow in just their knowledge of the game and expectations of our conference, and they’ve gotten a lot smarter,” she said. “And so I expect to see a lot come out of this class.”