Setting Up For a Successful Season

One of Santa Clara’s club teams proves to be a strong competitorAddy Camisa The Santa Clara January 18, 2018Santa Clara Women’s Club Volleyball team moves forward into their 13th season as they prepare to play Stanford on Jan 21. Last year, the team placed the same as Stanford—with both squads netting 8-6 records.The team began their season in mid January. Starting at San Jose State University, they played in the MLK Tournament Jan. 14-15. This was their first official tournament of the season after competing in a preseason tournament days before at the University of San Francisco and holding tryouts in late October.The team was founded in 2005, despite the presence of an NCAA-ranked women’s volleyball team already at Santa Clara. The Women’s Club Volleyball team is one of 17 club teams at Santa Clara. The group competes in the Northern California Collegiate Volleyball League, as well as the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation.The Santa Clara team reigned as champions of the Northern California Collegiate Volleyball League from 2007-2010, but has yet to win the title again since.The Club Volleyball team’s President, Mary Fowler, said, “Our team goal is to beat Cal Poly and get to gold at nationals.” In addition, they hope to rank higher in the league. “We are really excited for our league games and for nationals at the end of the season,” sophomore Allie Folks said. The team’s most recent success in the National Championship Tournament occurred when they placed second in their 2009-2010 season.“My favorite part about being president is getting to work closely with the other officers, Abby Suster, Cloie von Massenhausen and Sydney Baricaua,” Fowler said.The team features players from various grade levels and backgrounds. As a club team, they receive partial funding from the school, but also rely on other channels.These channels include member dues, donations and money from fundraising.Relating to their structure as a club team compared to the NCAA official teams at Santa Clara, Fowler said: “I think we’re unique in that we are all close outside of volleyball, so it allows us to have strong communication and team bonds.”Fowler also attests to the club structure, stating that it is the perfect balance. “In high school, I was really involved in [the] school play and my club team,” she said, “I didn’t want to play in college, but didn’t want to stop playing or do intramurals. The volleyball club gave me the best of both worlds in that regard.”“A strength is that we work well under pressure,” Fowler said.“We have tournaments around here which are always fun but the travel and different competition brings out the best in our team,” Folks said.Getting in the mindset to prepare for success at nationals, “We practice three times a week and normally after a tournament or game, we really prioritize what our weaknesses were the previous weekend,” Folks said.Once they determine these weaknesses, they work on them at these practices to prepare for their next competition.In regard to the the team’s strengths, Folks said, “I think we really have a great friendship and I think that will transcend into the court as we enter the season, and hopefully we will get a higher seed at the end of the year at nationals.”Last season, the Santa Clara team and Stanford team ended the season with the same record. A win against Stanford in their upcoming game would mean a step forward from last year’s record as the team continues their new season.Contact Addy Camisa at acamisa@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.