University of Tennessee Athletics
VBall Preseason Practice: Day 7 Report
August 16, 2012 | Volleyball
Aug. 16, 2012
Here are a few notable quotes from the seventh day of preseason training camp:
JUNIOR L Ellen Mullins
"We're doing good. Every single day we're getting better and better. We still continue to work on our defense, being still, and obviously fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals is what we're stressing."
"I wear No. 10 because when I was little it just was the number that I picked and it just stuck with me throughout my years of playing volleyball."
ASSISTANT COACH Rachel Cooper
"I'm a big fan of 90s. It's hard to pick a favorite out of the 90s. I like it all."
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On Day 7 of preseason practice, the University of Tennessee volleyball team officially pumped up the volume. The Lady Vols practiced at Thompson-Boling Arena in the morning and afternoon, had a film session and will conclude Thursday with their first intersquad scrimmage of the season.
In addition to the heavy workload, the Southeastern Conference favorites actually did turn up the volume at practice. For the first time this preseason, the Orange & White had music playing throughout their workouts in order to lift practice tempo and prepare the squad for big crowds this upcoming campaign.
The coaching staff has seen loads of improvement in all aspects of the game over the course of the first seven days of preseason and is looking forward to the scrimmage.
"We have improved tremendously over these last seven days," said assistant coach Rachel Cooper. "The girls are working hard. It's probably one of the most-coachable groups we've ever had. They're really soaking everything in and working hard so we're seeing a lot of improvement in what we're asking them to do."
BIG ORANGE IN COBRA MAGAZINE
The third annual preseason issue of COBRA Magazine - a monthly volleyball publication that according to its mission statement honors the success of players of African, Samoan and Tongan descent - was recently released and the Big Orange was well represented.
In the magazine, the editor selects the Lady Vols to play in the NCAA National Championship match and picked their first matchup against No. 12 Florida State as one of the publication's pre-conference matches of the season.
COBRA Magazine also lists its All-Preseason teams in the issue. UT's Kayla Jeter was named to the first team, while both Tiffany Baker and DeeDee Harrison were selected to the third team.
Baker is also featured in the issue in a one-on-one question and answer interview where she discusses playing with the USA A2 Program and her expectations for the Lady Vols this season. To read the interview, visit www.cobramag.t83.net.
ORANGE VS. WHITE
UT will play its first intersquad scrimmage this evening and while both the staff and players share the ultimate goal of getting better as a team, they're both also looking to improve specifics.
"As a staff, we're looking at the rotations," said Cooper. "We've been playing a lot of the 5-1 and 6-2 just trying to see what's going to work, what works well with our team and where we're going to be more successful. I think with our girls it's just to continue our saying of playing hard and executing to perfection, which is really what we're striving to do."
For the team, one of the main focuses of the preseason has been getting better defensively.
"We're really focusing on defense, defense and more defense because that's what we need to pick up in our game," said junior libero Ellen Mullins. "Definitely just being still and reading where the hitters are going to hit the ball is something we're working on so that's going to be a personal and team goal."
TURN UP THE TUNES
With record crowds expected all season and the grind of preseason, music at practice was not only welcomed, but potentially beneficial in the long run.
"We like listening to music (at practice)," said Mullins. "Today we put on some 90s/Pop Pandora so we were jamming before practice, but it really helps us get the feel of having people in here and noises because when we play in front of big crowds it helps us. We have to stay focused with the distractions."
According to Cooper, bringing energy to the court has also been an underlying theme this preseason.
"We've really been talking about bringing a lot of energy into our practices as a coaching staff and we expect that from our players all the time," Cooper said. "That's something we're really trying to get better at as coaches and we just figured the music element was a new way to bring that today. The girls really fed off of it so I liked it."
