Commitment is something the Bluffton College volleyball team knows all about. After a 33 game season spanning September and October the volleyball team is already hard at work.
 Sophomore Erin Cooper (left) and junior Janelle Beck will return for BC next season after a tough off-season program. |
Volleyball success is a tradition at Bluffton. Head coach Sara Wakefield knows-she was part of it. Having played during some of Bluffton’s most successful years, coach Wakefield is eager to get her team back to the success of the past.
“It was a rough season, we had more potential than we showed on the court,” said coach Wakefield of last season. Bluffton only managed a 10-23 overall record last season, but did end with a 3-3 mark in the Heartland Conference. The 2002 team will look to improve in both categories.
The first step to preparing and improving for next season is what the off-season workouts are all about. The team’s off-season preparation currently consists of two open gyms and two lifting routines per week. The open gyms consist of scrimmages and the lifting program is on an individual basis.
Although it seems like a lot of work, next year sophomore Erin Kreim is confident her team is more than ready. “I am more determined now with the experience I received last season,” Kreim said. Kreim also said that commitment to the team was a strong reason for the off-season workouts. An emphasis will be placed on improving team offense this off-season while developing the play of the team’s younger players. The volleyball team will have an opportunity to show off their hard work in a few months. They will have formal practice in March to prepare for two tournaments in April.
The off-season routines will continue until the end of the spring semester at Bluffton. The volleyball team will than return two weeks before fall semester to begin pre-season practice. With all the work the volleyball team is prepared to put in, next year’s team is likely to turn potential into results.
