The USF volleyball practice slate is marked by drills and formations. There is a quote in the upper left corner.
It is the most suitable mantra for the Dons.
They went 0-25 a season ago. Their last victory came on March 26, 2021, at the end of a grueling spring campaign in the middle of the pandemic. They won 11 sets in the entire 2021 fall season.
USF is now 7-1 for its best start to a season since 2015 and the fourth-best start in program history after winning its first six games.
“We have a plan,” second-year coach Diogo Silva said. “I think we have talent. It was a very tough year for everyone, and if they took that and learned from it, that’s awesome. But I feel that everyone is happy with the new people in the team too.”
Orsula Staka, the only senior on the USF volleyball roster, can’t help but admit she’s surprised by how the season has started, but said each win brings an emotional release.
“It can’t be worse than last year,” Staka said. “There’s pressure to show that we’ve worked really hard and spent all spring and summer fixing it, and show everybody that we can do it.”
When Isadora Nicolai was looking to transfer for her graduate season, something about USF stood out. Despite the daunting prospect of joining a team that was the worst in program history last season, he felt it was a worthwhile project.
“I just trusted what the coaches said,” he said. “He knew it was a project, and he said things would happen here.”
Nicolai, out of Auburn University in Montgomery, is one of three undergraduate transfers on the roster. Starter Claire Crijns came over from the Netherlands, and Anna Petrova transferred from UConn.
USF suffered its first loss on Friday against Cal State Northridge, a five-set 3-2 heartbreaker in which it led 2-0 and reached match point a few times.
On Saturday against Penn, that could have expired after the Dons built another 2-0 lead. But they learned from their mistake. The third set was the most contested, going back and forth until USF pulled away to claim the sweep. It was a sure sign of progress from last season.
“After last season, we’re giving it everything we’ve got,” sophomore Shiya Richardson said.
Staka has yet to see a winning season: The Dons went 8-21 in his first year, an 8-10 spring season and then a disastrous 2021 fall.
“We want to fix what happened last year,” said Staka.
USF traveled to Bozeman, Mont., to start this season with a three-game tournament. In their game against host Montana State, the Dons fell 2-0. They had seen this story before.
“I knew I had to stay calm or the team would get nervous,” Silva said.
Something was different, though. Rather than let up, the Dons played two tight sets with calm confidence, then won the fifth 15-9.
“I was happy because the victories didn’t start that day. It starts with recruiting and building the team,” said Sliva. “Then we can achieve what we put in the work.”
It was the first victory in more than a year, and the first for Silva since he was appointed coach.
“Everybody was crying,” libero Abby Wadas said.
It was a moment of relief and catharsis for a program devastated during the pandemic and featuring one of the youngest rosters in the country. When talking about why last year’s fight was so bad, all the translators pointed out how new everything was.
There are new faces this year too, between the Wadas that starts and the transfers of three degrees, but the closeness created in adversity has changed the culture.
“This is what we’re preparing for,” Richardson said.
The Dons have a quiet confidence and there is hope of success. But if they come up short, Silva’s second season progress – and first without the restrictions of COVID – will be something different.
“They don’t want to take the jersey off,” Silva said. “I want them to have that feeling that even if they lose the last game, they don’t want it to end.”
The Dons won four games more than last season. They have won every way you can to start the season; sweeps, epic chases and dramatic five-set victories.
USF’s true identity may not reveal itself until conference play begins and the Dons try to make a postseason run, something that wasn’t even on the radar a few weeks ago.
“Coach has a saying,” Staka said, referring to the board. “When you win you’re not very good and when you lose you’re not bad. We live with that.”
The message has arrived. The Dons were notably loose playing and after the game against Penn. Even after their first loss of the season the day before, they remained relaxed.
“It’s almost like we have nothing to lose,” Wadas said. “I want the team to do well, but we can literally go up.”
Marisa Ingemi is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: marisa.ingemi@sfchronicle.com
Is beach volleyball a d1?
Beach volleyball is recognized by NCAA Division I and II schools as an emerging sport for women and is an equivalency sport, which means that athletic scholarships may be awarded in partial awards up to the maximum allowed ratio.
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Can I play beach volleyball in college?
Beach volleyball is a growing sport at both the college and high school levels. Prior to 2015, the sport was known as sand volleyball and was classified by the NCAA as an “Emerging Sport for Women†. It is now a championship sport with more than 80 universities competing.
Is sand volleyball an NCAA sport?
NCAA Beach Volleyball is one of the fastest growing college sports ever. When beach volleyball (then known as beach volleyball, which… glad they changed it) debuted as a club sport in 2011, there were 15 NCAA member teams. Read also : ‘Stranger Things’ Dethroned in the Netflix Top 10 List of a New Show. When it became an NCAA-sanctioned sport in 2016, there were 56 beach volleyball teams.
Is Oakland City University d2?
Based in Oakland City, IN, the Mighty Oaks while not formally affiliated with an athletic conference are active in NCAA Division II. On the same subject : NCAA Beats Tennessee by 18 Fouls Under Former Coach Jeremy Pruitt.
Is OCU d2? Oklahoma City University moves to NCAA Division 1.
Is Oakland City University a d1 school?
They are also members of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), competing primarily as an independent in the Division I Mideast Region. The Mighty Oaks were an NCAA D-II Independent in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) until the 2019–20 school year.
Is Oakland City d2?
Oakland City University will return to the NAIA from NCAA Division II, becoming the sixth school to move from the NCAA in the past five years.
What is the smallest NCAA Division 1 school?
Wake Forest University With an enrollment of approximately 5,102 students, the university is definitely on the smaller end of the spectrum when it comes to Division 1 schools.
What is the smallest NCAA school? This is a modal window.
What state does not have a D1 school?
There are currently 358 universities classified as Division I for NCAA competition. Alaska is the only state without a Division 1 school.
What are the smallest Division 1 basketball schools?
Here’s a look at the 20 smallest schools that meet the No. 1 ranking, ranked by most recent undergraduate enrollment numbers.
- Holy Cross (2,905)
- San Jose (4,600)…
- La Salle (4,773) …
- Wake Forest (4,775)…
- Gonzaga (4,906) …
- Seton Hall (5,245) …
Is Division 1 or Division 3 better?
Division I offers the highest level of competition and the athletic departments of Division I schools have the largest budgets. III. The division is the lowest level of competition in the NCAA, and III. Division I schools tend to have the smallest athletic department budgets.
Is division 1 the highest level? NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the United States’ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which accepts players worldwide.
Is a Division 3 college good?
III. Division I schools are no exception and smaller class sizes promote better grades and more responsibility for student-athletes. In fact, the NCAA reported in 2019 that student-athletes at Division III schools graduated at a higher rate than the rest of the student body.
What’s the difference between Division 1 2 and 3?
NCAA Division I is home to the largest Division 1 universities and colleges, while Division II and Division III member schools are smaller in size. It is a common misunderstanding among athletes II. That the first level is by definition weaker than the first level; or III. Division II. Compared to the division.
Are Division 3 athletes good?
3) III. The level is still very competitive and intense. III. The athletes in the division are incredibly talented and were probably the best players on their high school teams. A few programs may have Division I players, Division III players. Those who choose to play in the tier for one of the reasons listed in this article.
