Volleyball Has Productive Practice After Day Off
Aug 18, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 18, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - After taking a day off to rest the weary legs and achy muscles associated with two-a-day practices, the Tulane University volleyball team returned to the hardwood Sunday afternoon and had a productive extended practice.
Points of emphasis during Sunday's afternoon session included full-team rotations, serve-receive and free ball transition, and ended with a high intensity defensive scramble drill that had the players go through one-minute spans of constantly changing scenarios. And while the signs of fatigue were still evident, especially early on, the coaching staff felt the practice went well.
"The battle you fight with a day off is getting back into a rhythm as a team," assistant coach Liz Kritza said. "We were a little sloppy at first, but we had good effort throughout. The intensity was there and we had a well-executed practice after both sides regained their focus."
One of the players that continued to impress the coaching staff is sophomore middle blocker Deva Fowler. Fowler was dominant at the net during Sunday's session, as she has been throughout the first week of practice.
"We said before we opened camp that we wanted Deva to be a key contributor in our offense this year," Kritza said. "She had a good freshman year, and the experience she gained along with the hard work she's put in during the offseason is beginning to show itself in practice."
Fowler and the 2002 Green Wave squad open the regular-season on Aug. 30-31 when Tulane travels to participate in the San Diego State Invitational in California. All three of the Green Wave's opponents during the weekend - host San Diego State, Florida International and Santa Barbara - all participated in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
Tulane opens its home schedule on Sept. 3 when the Green Wave takes on Prairie View A&M and Jackson State in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. at Fogelman Arena.
