Under The Radar: A Redshirt Diary

Here, There, and Everywhere

October 5, 2021

Despite not having class on Tuesdays, Sarah was still quite busy. First, she met with Tori Wilson to discuss the logistics of utilizing the Convocation Center for volleyball matches in the future, which included the possibility of moving select matches as early as next season from Sinclair Gymnasium to the facility. She also did an interview with her for an assignment due next week in her SRL515 class, learning about her role in Facilities and Events and the ups-and-downs of managing the athletic department's main arenas of competition.

Following lunch with Annie and Emma, Sarah went over to Godwin and spent some extra time in the locker room preparing for practice away from the rest of the team. While alone, she thought about her friends in the NWSL and what they were facing with the return of play coming tomorrow. She also began developing a plan to lasso Marc at some point this weekend. Stretched-out and mentally set, Sarah went back to the second floor and entered the gym, where Rebecca and Charlie were working on back-row setting and her serve receive. When he saw Sarah, Charlie asked her to join them. Together, they ran several plays, with Charlie in back row on reception, Rebecca at the net as the setter, and Sarah moving along the front row providing a target for the two players. As others came in, Charlie assigned them to various spots on the court, with Hannah and Jaydyn serving from the other side of the net, Caroline taking over for Rebecca on the set, and Elizabeth getting a run at back-row attacking, as her being left-handed was something Lauren thought could be advantageous at some point. Once Lauren and Michael entered the gym, the players stopped their impromptu warmup and gathered on the left side of the net.

Lauren: Today's practice will be focused on running the entire squad through our new system of play. The shock-and-awe I put out to start on Saturday night delivered our best first set of the season, as we gave up only 11 points and hit .325 (15 kills - 2 errors - 40 attempts). Those numbers were nearly duplicated in the second set. When I reverted to the standard 5-1 for the third set, we went behind for a good bit of it until we were able to cobble together a couple of good rotations that wore out the opposition.

Lauren looked at her notes, which had the positions where she wanted to try out the six players (Hannah, Emma, Sarah, Savanah, Madilyn, and Danielle) who started Set Three on Saturday night. Over the course of 90 minutes, she mixed-and-matched them with the regular starters and their positional partners, finding a couple of the players to be quite capable of fitting into a potentially new role, such as Savanah as a right-side player and Madilyn being an option as a serving specialist if Rebecca or Hannah end up being six-rotation players during a match. The team was then split up into two groups of eight (Savannah watched with the coaches, while Liv had decided to officially hang up the kneepads) and played a set against each other in the new scheme. Neither side was able to get on an extended run, which led to the scrimmage going into extra points. Both teams had chances to win, but good defense and utilizing the vast array of options available on attack caused the score to continue to rise. Once the set was at 30-30, Lauren said, "Final point!" Elizabeth was set to serve, which caused the receiving side to slide a pinch to their right, expecting her to send the ball cross-court. The southpaw put a bit of wicked spin on the offering and it curved toward where the player in Position 5 (left back, which in this case was Hannah) would have been normally. She took a stab at keeping the ball up, but bumped it with her hands, causing it to spin away from the court and into the partition behind the scorers' table. With the point dead, Lauren called the full team together and provided both feedback and encouragement to the players on what she had seen and how they had done. She told them that her plan was to play Elon on Thursday night with the shorter/standard bench, but would use the new options some in Saturday morning's match against William and Mary. After dismissing the team, Lauren, Michael, and Charlie reviewed their impressions of their depth players and debated with one another how and with whom to use each of them.

***

Sarah's evening began with watching a documentary on US Women's National Team star Carli Lloyd, after which she moved to her desk and started mapping out some of the specifics for Tori to include in the proposal she will make to the athletic director for using the Convocation Center if James Madison is chosen to host games in the NCAA Tournament. She was nearly finished when she heard the apartment door being unlocked. Sophia entered, along with Savannah, Caroline, and Liv. They sat down on the couch waited for Sarah to face them before setting in.

Savannah: I call to order this intervention of Duke's Dog Pound.

Sarah: I don't need an intervention. What I need is to not be pushed into doing something I already plan to accomplish later this week! Sophia, I am just a tad miffed that you brought in reinforcements. WHY IN THE HELL did you do that?!

Sophia: Because YOU were not going to get out of second gear without a bit of a nudge. All of us older players on the team can see with our own two eyes that you are hung up on Marc and you want him to want you in return. Well, newsflash: he does and has for a few weeks.

Sarah: How do you know that?

Sophia: I stopped by to see him yesterday to discuss the possibility of using my COVID year in the future and how best to schedule my course load so I can either graduate in four and start grad school here or stretch things out and graduate December 2023. While he was looking over my online transcript and comparing it to the requirements for my major and possible minors toward which my previous courses could count, I followed up on our conversation at Jack Brown's after the High Point match, when he told me he considered available female athletes good dating material, that was if he could ever get one to pay him attention.

Sarah: And?

Sophia: He told me the two of you stared at each other across the threshold when he left on Saturday night, as though there was a desire to act on the heart-eyes you've apparently got for one another.

Sarah: I know he's not going to game me, that he is serious about his desire for me, which I think explains the tentativeness he had on Saturday to go further than the hug. He's so open and willing to affirm his impression of me and my value as a woman. It makes me so freakin' giddy!

Caroline: He's also not afraid of the jocks looking to get in his way, despite being a newbie here, or being the butt of jokes because he's under 6'.

Liv: He's smart as hell and quite devoted to things about which he cares, like our academics and his desire to be Sarah's boo.

Savannah: So why haven't you said yes yet?

Sarah: At this moment, it's because we haven't seen each other since Saturday night, when I accepted that I liked him and wanted to be his. Previously, it was because I wasn't really ready to add something with him to what I already have on my plate, nor open him up to what I've dealt with off-the-field for the better part of the last year.

Caroline: Another newsflash, my friend: he's not going anywhere, so you best decide if you want him or not.

Sarah: Didn't you hear me tell the others I did?! Just need to see him at some point, get him alone, and let him know.

Savannah: I think we've accomplished what we wished to, so we're gonna let you get back to swooning over your man and being industrious on the grad school work.

Sarah saw everyone out and said goodbye to them, then shut and locked the door and went out on the balcony to get some fresh air and think about everyone's nosiness, resolving to land Marc and then keep it on the down-low for a little bit so they have some time to get this relationship off to a strong beginning.