The California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State) Warrior’s volleyball team has had an exceptional start to their season.
The team went on an impressive 7-0 before suffering their first lost against Cal State Los Angeles, a significant difference from last season in which the team only brought in two wins total.
Now the Warriors stand proud at 8-2 total for the season, and 2-2 CCAA. There is no doubt that these girls have completely turned things around from last year.
The season isn’t even halfway over and they have already proven to be a force to be reckoned with.
So far this year, the girls have a whopping 1,417 total attacks against opponents. Last year they had a total of 3,038 for the entire season. This offensive attack has been extremely tough on opponents thus far this season.
“I feel like even though we have pretty much the same team as last year and same girls, we are a completely different team. The culture is so different and we have been working hard every day in practice. I feel like we work 20 times harder than last year,” said Lindsay Skadeland (junior, Communication Studies).
A lot of their success and newfound confidence has come from working hard in practice and gaining a new perspective on the sport with some help from first year head coach, Mallori Gibson-Rossi.
“I think it started coming from practice. Just focusing on our mental toughness and physical ability and improving on what we already had. Like Lindsay said, it’s a completely new team, mentally and physically,” said Taylor Massengale (junior, Biology).
The girls are now able to confidently go onto the court knowing they can accomplish anything together. “We have improved on every aspect of our game. Passing has gotten better, we can run on offense when we’re passing well. Everyone has been working hard and we’ve all made crazy changes and improvements,” said Paige Walker (junior, Sociology).
The improvements and changes have been well noticed. This team has started with one of the greatest records in Warrior Volleyball history.
What’s even better is that they did all this with a new head coach. Coach Mallori Gibson-Rossi has completely redefined this team making them stronger both mentally and physically. Coach Gibson started her coaching career as assistant coach for Fresno State where for two years she served as the second assistant before being promoted to first assistant for her remaining two years.
Now as head coach for the Warriors, Gibson has helped completely turn this team around. In the spring she went back to the basics and made the team focus on the fundamentals of volleyball.
“I think that’s kind of why they gained some confidence. They are able to problem solve now, where as before if they made a mistake they had no idea what they were doing wrong,” said Coach Gibson.
There is no doubt that these girls are confident and ready to prove themselves this season. They know now they have the ability to be a top contender and compete with some of the toughest teams in the league.
“There is just so much opportunity, and I think we are finally realizing what we are capable of and I think that’s why people are gaining confidence too,” said Maddi Seidl (junior, Biology). “We are seeing what we can do and realizing that’s so obtainable for us to be at the top of our conference and be one of those elite teams.”