Tickets
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team officially reported to campus on Sunday with its first practice scheduled for Monday, Aug. 10. GoBearcats.com caught up with head coach Molly Alvey during the hectic schedule to discuss the team and the upcoming 2015 season.
GoBearcats.com: Today is the first day of practice but most of the team has been on campus this summer taking classes. What has it been like to have the team all together preparing for the season?
Molly Alvey: It is a completely different feel. You can definitely feel within the last two weeks that energy is starting to be created. They are excited for sure, they have expressed that verbally quite a bit and are counting down the days. They've popped up in the office to see us and there is a good excitement about getting started. I think a lot of that is the culture that we have on the team - they are putting in the work and that builds confidence and excitement. You want to get started with something that you have worked really hard on.
GB: What have you learned about the team so far?
MA: Without even playing a match, just from conversations I have had, I have already learned how together this team is. From top to bottom, even with so many new people, we are all on the same page and you can attribute that to all of the work of our captains and upperclassmen. Heading into my fourth season at Cincinnati, you can start to see the full transformation of the program and all of the hard work that past players have contributed. It is amazing to me how common our language is now - we are saying the same things and have the same goals and our expectations are aligning better now.
GB: How will the team's nine underclassmen impact the team this season?
MA: That's a really good question. One of our goals during the preseason is to get the communication barrier, which is normal when you join a new team, out of their systems. Once they hear us coaching for the first time, we need to be able to work through those little kinks. But other than that I think the freshmen and the newcomers made a commitment to be here over the summer and our upperclassmen have done a great job of getting them engrained to our system and our culture. I have had nothing but positive feedback about that transition and how easy the newcomers have made it for the upperclassmen to get them acclimated into the program.
GB: The incoming class was named the 26th ranked recruiting class in the nation by Prep Volleyball. How important will the freshman be to the team's success this season?
MA: We spent a lot of time on this recruiting class and just putting together the right pieces that we need as this year comes together. You look at where the transformation of the program has been and I think they are critical to how the puzzle will fit. A lot of that will be on their shoulders. It is always an adjustment to the speed of the game in college, the length of the season, the amount of playing time - it is all a lot different than what they are used to. I think there will be a learning curve for them, but I do think they are critical in fitting into the bigger puzzle and what the team will look like come the conference season and midway through conference play. A lot of that will be on their shoulders and we will be looking to see how they respond to college volleyball. But everybody is excited about them - the team, the coaches, everybody. They have carried themselves well since they have been here and they are an extremely mature and competitive group. It is definitely exciting.
GB: Senior Emma Roberson was an All-Conference performer in 2014, what are you expecting from her this season?
MA: We have the same expectations for Emma. She is our biggest point scorer and we definitely expect the point scoring out of her. Her biggest role on the team is producing kills and producing points. I think with her experience level and coming back as a senior, we will obviously have the same expectations for her. And then we have to figure out how to fine-tune her game in tiny pieces to where her output grows tremendously. But I think Emma knows her role and is prepared to do her part scoring points.
GB: One of the newcomers this season is Lise Alaiwan from France. What was the process like to get her here and what do you think she will add to the team?
MA: Lise is a player that we found in the recruiting process that fit the needs of our system. What she is really good at in the middle blocker role is what we needed to add to our roster. I think it is only a bonus that she is coming in as a junior and has that experience. But it will be a different transition for her than the freshmen because the international game is very different than the style played in the U.S. It is nice to have a player that adds experience in tenure and years played but that also brings the international style that can help grow our team's volleyball IQ.
GB: After a breakout freshman season in 2014, what will Cortnee Bowser contribute to the team this year?
MA: I think Cortnee is a huge presence at the net. Her physical build and length allow her to score points both blocking and attacking. She led the team in blocks per set as a freshman so it will be the same thing we talked about with Emma, we just need to fine-tune her skills and make her game a little sharper now that she is one year older. She gained a lot of experience as a freshman so now hopefully she comes in with a little more confidence this year and we can get her producing early on in a consistent manner.
GB: Who will be looked upon to provide leadership for the team in the locker room?
MA: I think our current captains, Amelia Wegman, Alison Kimmel and Lindsey Dinkelacker, do a fantastic job with our team. I think they are three very different personalities so they are able to cover a huge spectrum of personalities in the locker room. They really have a good sense of where we want this program to go on a win-loss level and on a national level. I think they are really good people too. They are patient and have really high expectations for the team. They have done a fantastic job with the team with inclusion, setting an example and being great figures for both the team and the coaching staff as far as providing leadership.
GB: What is it like for the team to play in the competitive American Athletic Conference?
MA: This year will be interesting just to see how things shake up with the American because I think there are a lot of different directions that the conference can go with everyone's rosters being strong. I think it is an open field of play and it will be hard to determine who will be at the top until we get halfway through the conference season because everybody will be pretty competitive top to bottom. That makes it fun, you always want to be in a league where you feel like you're going out with top-level competition every single time you step on the court. We are definitely looking forward to that and have to balance that with our travel schedule we have and how to be prepared for that whole competition.
GB: How important is the season-opening Queen City Classic to set the tone for the season?
MA: The opening weekend is always important to get a gauge on how your team responds and how they come out of preseason training camp. I think this one is especially exciting to have Eastern Michigan come down, and to have Northern Kentucky and Xavier both in the tournament makes is an exciting regional experience for all of us. I think it is the perfect tournament for us to open up with and test where we are against three very solid volleyball programs.
GB: What are you expecting from your team this season?
MA: I think my biggest expectation and goal for the players is that they are consistently fighting and competing against one another to be on the court. The more inner-competition we can get between them, the higher level of volleyball we will get from the team as a whole. As they push each other, the level of play from those people will just continue to grow. I think we are really going to hammer in the concept of competing every single day that we practice which should translate on the court regardless of who we are playing across the net.
-GoBEARCATS.com-