Diary

Toni
Jones

Past Entries

May 31, 2005

Falling short of at least a recurrent Final Four appearance last fall, Emory volleyball's 2005 spring season began with a great deal of excitement and desire to improve for the our next regular season.

Led by two seniors who still seem like freshman in the eyes of those who don't realize how fast one's college athletic career passes, a considerably smaller squad than last fall's came back from winter break with the fire necessary to make significant individual improvements while, more importantly, bettering our team chemistry.

Day after day, we assembled in the Woodruff P.E. Center (WoodPEC) to practice as one unit. Following days of what could have easily consisted of classes, tutoring, (weight)lifting, studying, and who can imagine what else, lovely ladies clad in Emory's colors could be found completing drills and demonstrating that we will again be an undeniably strong force in what is popularly considered one of the toughest conferences in Division III volleyball.

With the amazing addition of a new weight room on the fourth floor of our recently renovated athletic facility, Steve Lewis (The Great!), our strength and conditioning coach, pushed our youngest class to uncharted levels of strengthening intensity while expecting leadership from the veterans. Feeling somewhat spoiled by a luxurious facility that permits an impressive view of our outdoor track, another aspect of the facility with which we grew considerably familiar as a component of the team workout, our squad was sure to not let our wonderful new opportunity go to waste.

In addition to the wonderful new weight room on the fourth floor of the WoodPEC, we were fortunate enough to have at least two volleyball courts set up at all times on the new sport courts adjacent to the Steve's domain. With the leadership of our captains and the strong fervor to play from our young ones, the new courts were put to excellent use as well.

Looking back on the spring season, popular vote would probably say one of the highlights of the semester was our showing at our sole spring tournament at the University of West Georgia. We were strong in every position with a number of options for each position. We celebrated points earned off service aces with absurd but hilarious ace cheers. We ate a ton of pizza halfway through the tournament and still managed to perform decently. Most importantly, we had a great time playing with each other and seeing all our hard work from the spring practices paying off.

Clearly, we can remember our spring competitions against other schools with fond memories, but something else about our spring semester of 2005 made me much more excited about our upcoming season: our captains' practices.

In the midst of wanting, and sometimes needing, to be elsewhere, our captains managed to gather all of our passionate players on the fourth floor's new courts to play the sport we love…without any of the coaches making the extra play mandatory. If that desire and commitment is any indication or preview of what is to be expected during the fall, stay tuned folks. We are all definitely in for a treat.

Toni Jones is a sophomore from Spanish Fort, Ala. She would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.