The Geneseo volleyball team has hit a stride this season, obtaining a four-game winning streak on top of defeating five out of their last six matches, which included a 3-0 victory over SUNY Farmingdale on Saturday Oct. 1. The win was the icing on the cake for the Knights’ senior day, where they celebrated the collegiate volleyball careers of four talented senior athletes.
“The underclassmen are always excited to celebrate, and for the seniors it’s great because they’ve put in three or four solid years of hard work and it looks like some light at the end of the tunnel,” head coach Amber Dunn said.
As the college heads into the highly anticipated fall break, the Knights are preparing for their next SUNYAC pool play, which will be at SUNY New Paltz. With games on Friday Oct. 7 and Saturday Oct. 8, Dunn plans for the team to compete but also to enjoy their fall break.
By playing in New Paltz, Dunn is actually doing her downstate players a favor. About half of the team hails from Long Island, so after the tournament they are free to go home, which will save them a long ride from Geneseo.
“[This is] the one bigger break that they’ll get in the middle of the season because volleyball is really a 10-week season that goes every single weekend,” Dunn said.
While a break in a winning streak may seem threating to their momentum, the Knights aren’t worried about that. Instead, they choose to think positively, seeing it for what it is: a break.
“It’ll be a good time for us. You figure at this point last week they were starting to get into their exams, and it’ll give them good family time, but [also] a good opportunity to catch back up on academic work too,” Dunn said.
With six freshmen on the team, the amped up atmosphere of this stressful time in the semester shows positively in the gym, rather than affecting their performance.
“They are really starting to hit that peak and go on the up and up, looking forward to what’s coming next,” Dunn said.
The typical practice routine combines individual skills with playing as a team. The first half of practice is spent on serve and pass—especially defensive and individual ball control skills—and a variety of different drills. Sometimes Dunn uses specific drills that will help them for their next matchup, even though it isn’t explicitly explained to the team. The second half of the practice focuses on competitive drills and putting the skills they’ve worked on to the test.
The Knights look to take the skills they’ve practiced to the court in their competitions against New Paltz, SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Brockport over break, where they will continue to put their skills to the test.