Practice Notes 2/28: Development and Defense

The spring schedule is soon to be announced, but we're about a month away from seeing Texas Volleyball in game action, and the team is busy getting ready for it. With seven new players in the practice gym plus a new Associate Head Coach plus one more player coming in the summer, the themes of practice right now are development and communication.

At the moment, Jerritt Elliott says the priority is developing the team's systems and working on defense. Ball control was not a strength of this team last season, and the staff has shown a clear investment in that category, adding Ramsey Gary, Anja Kujundzic, and freshman Callie Krueger in the offseason to shore up the defensive backcourt, as well as experienced six-rotation hitter Torrey Stafford.

Another focus right now is getting new Associate Head Coach Ben Josephson involved and implementing some of his ideas on improving the team, especially around setting. He has been very active in his first couple of weeks, bringing in a wealth of experience and fun analogies to explain volleyball concepts.

Another thing Coach Elliott mentioned is that it's far too early to start thinking about starting lineups for the fall. Growth is not linear and the focus is on developing all 17 players, adding "We understand that players might take a brief step backward in terms of their skill development because we are working on new things."

Finally, some quick hitters:

• There is a strong emphasis on communication between players and building team chemistry.
• For the most part, Torrey Stafford, Kenna Miller, Cari Spears, and Abby Vander Wal have been practicing on the outside with Devin Kahahawai, Whitney Lauenstein, and Addy Gaido taking most reps from the opposite. Kahahawai and Lauenstein have even gotten some D ball reps.
• Kenna Miller is too often overlooked, she has shown some bright flashes in the gym.
• MBU has continued to show its strength. All three middles have looked great, and the #1 middle from the 2025 class according to PPV, Taylor Harvey, isn't even on campus yet.
• This goes without saying, but there is a high level of competitiveness in the gym, even during fun mini-games in practice.