Cougar Sports Network!

Hello all-
If you can't make it to the match Wednesday, check us out on our webcast!

We are also very excited to announce that you can listen to the audio of hte match inside the PE Center if you bring a radio and headphones with you.

See you all Wednesday night-- and if you aren't at the PE Center, check us out online!

Have a great week!

Coach B

Great Scrimmage!

We had our Maroon/Gold scrimmage on Friday night and we (the coaches) are even more excited about this season then ever. We really have some gamers on the team!! The teams were split pretty even and the scores (other then one set) were never more then a 4 point spread. If you watched the coaches video you can see that we were pretty giddy afterward and all of us had great things to say about the team.

At practice on Saturday we touched on some serving and hitting which we thought was the weakest part of our game on Friday night. Following the drills we did a couple team bonding activities. It is amazing what 19 people can come up with when you tell them they have to move the length of a volleyball court with only 15 hands or feet touching the ground while all staying interconnected! What is even more fun to watch is how 18 people lying on the floor can move a person (light as a feather, stiff as a board) over their heads the length of the vb court. If these girls didn't trust each other before, they do now!!

Coach B finally broke down and gave the team Saturday afternoon off and the whole day on Sunday! I am sure they didn't know what to do with all that non volleyball time!!

We'll be back in the gym in a couple hours here getting ready for our first match on Wednesday. If you can't make it here to Mo-Town, don't worry....you can catch all the action on our webcast at http://csn.morris.umn.edu/

Well, Mitch is here, so I guess I have to go work out now. TTFN

Coach P

Words from Theis

I transferred to UMM this year and I was anxious. I wouldn't know my teammates and I wouldn't know what the coaches expected; I wasn't ready to be a freshman all over again. But I have to say, after two weeks of practice, I feel at home and everybody on campus and the team has been helpful and friendly.

Our practices have been intense. It's a challenge to learn everyone's playing style. But the players from last year have made us (the new players) feel part of the team and that's helped us adjust quickly. I thank them for that.

In practice we have been doing a lot of defensive drills like passing and blocking. We have touched some on hitting and lots of 6-on-6 drills.

Participating in Feed My Starving Children was fun and it made me feel good to volunteer my time to help the less fortunate. We filled containers with dried food. We made a contest out of it which made it fun. We were divided into teams and had a race to see who could fill the most containers in a certain amount of time.

We have less than a week to go before we see how we do against outside competition. We play Macalester on Wednesday. Our team is getting better every day and we can feel ourselves improving as a team. It just takes time and practice. The preseason has been a lot of work but a lot of fun, too. I have big expectations for our team this year. Go Cougars!!!!

Megan Theis

Scrimmage tonight!

Hello all--
Just a couple of quick updates- First, we are having an intrasquad scrimmage tonight in the PE Center, with a 7:30 first serve, all are welcome! Second, check out our team headshots online- and last, you can read the release about the UMAC pre-season poll.

We will have practice tomorrow and a team meeting to watch film and do a team-building activity, then we are off for Saturday night and all day Sunday- first day with no volleyball since we got here 10 days ago!

Have a great weekend and we hope to see you tonight!

Sincerely,
Coach B

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What is Feed My Starving Children??

I forgot to mention in my last post that you can get more information about the volunteer work we did this evening at www.fmsc.org . It is a great organization that packages and sends food to starving children all over the world. It feels great to be a part of something SO powerful!!

Coach P

First Day of Classes

It has been yet another busy day around here. Classes got underway, we had a 2 1/2 hour practice, did a lifting workout and volunteered at Feed My Starving Children....we will have some great pictures of the players in hairnets as soon as they get emailed to me!

Practices are getting better everyday as we are really coming together and playing like a team. I can't wait to see what we will do against outside competition!!

Check back later to get a look at some great pictures!!

Coach P

Ready for School!

Well, pre-season practices are in the books! We had 12 practices over six days, with couple of small group workouts, a pool workout and three lifting sessions sprinkled in. Not bad...

Today was a little crazy again. We juggled some orientation activities with practice times, had a 2.5 hour practice this morning with lots of skill work and some 6-on-6 game play at the end. A team of six new players won FOUR GAMES!

This afternoon we did some small group practices by position and gave them lots of individual repetitions. We also had a chance to have most of them watch themselves perform skills on our Tivo video replay system. A good chance to work out some kinks.

Now, a team meeting tonight, and then classes start tomorrow! Keep checking back for updates! Go Cougars!

Coach B

Words from Captain Hermes

WOW, summer is already over and it is now a new beginning for the 2009 Cougar volleyball team. After four two-a-days of hard practices, we are looking really good as far as communications and coming out of our comfort zones. The new players are fitting in well, have great talents, and we're forming excellent team unity in just a short time. The season is just around the corner and our expectations on the court are high. We want to make the final tournament and take the conference championship in 2009.

As a leader on the team, my goal is to have the thought of winning the conference championship in our minds daily, whether we are working hard in practice or just hanging out as a team. This week I ask all of you Cougar volleyball players to take chances. Play different positions and do your best to show the coaches that you can. If you are a quiet player, take a chance and lead the team by talking to get other players in the game. But most importantly, we need to take that chance by pushing ourselves each day as a individuals.

With that winning attitude in every Cougar volleyball player, I believe we will be the best team possible this season--maybe even UMAC champs!

Colleen Hermes

Did I Miss a Day?

It has been so crazy busy here the last couple of days!
Freshman orientation started yesterday, so the campus is booming with people and activities. The first year players may be getting a little overwhelmed with learning all of the new stuff right now, but they are still playing hard in the gym.

We had two practices yesterday, along with convocation by the Chancellor, orientation meetings and small group activities.

Today they had the morning off from volleyball, but will be hitting the gym two more times today. I really think they like the gym time as a release.....at least they are playing like it!

Coach P

Cookout Upcoming!

Hey all-

Another good day in the gym! We had a team practice this morning- we did a lot of ball control drills, communication drills and did a bunch of 6-on-6 wash and serve receive drills. Their legs and shoulders seem to be getting pretty sore...

After learning about A.C.E. (the Academic Center for Enrichment- which helps with study abroad opportunities for individuals, postgraduate scholarships, semesters spent studying at a different institution-- Hawaii anybody!?!?, etc.) we had another delicious meal at food service (I really enjoyed the rice and Swedish meatballs!).

We then hit the pool for a short workout in there to get rid of some of our muscle soreness-- After that we rotated the team through by positions with small group practices. Now it's a cookout at my place and some team-building!

Enjoy-

Coach B

3 down , 9 to go

We are looking a little stiff and tired today......including coaches. Still going strong though!
They always say the 3rd day is the worst as far as soreness goes.
Hang in there girls!

Coach P

Day One is in the books!

Hello All-
We just finished our second practice of Day One- I am very, very excited about the athleticism and the depth we have this year! We haven't talked at all about court positioning, defense, or anytyhing about where they are supposed to be, so our 6-on-6 drills look a little crazy, but the effort, energy and excitement are there!

Just off to eat dinner in our newly remodeled food service building- should be exciting!

Have a great week and keep checking back for updates!

Sincerely,
Coach B

Time Change

I just realized that we had this set up in the wrong time zone. So the posts that I put up previously were way off. There is no way I would be posting a blog before 6am!!

Coach P

Busy 1st day

First practice was great but was slightly overshadowed by our first Community Service project, Daycare in the Park .....which was actually held at the Armory because it was raining.

We didn't get to actually play with the kids this year, we were on the clean up crew. We got some great pictures though!

We're hitting the gym again at 2:30.

Coach P

Check in Day

We are all here!

We had 19 athletes check in yesterday and we are all "meetinged" out. All are anxious to get on the court and start working!!

Everyone got here by 1pm, met with coaches, moved into their residence halls, met with coaches, said goodbye to parents, met with coaches, got practice gear, met with captains (you thought I was going to say coaches!).

Well, got to get to the gym. The first official practice starts in 16min!!!

Coach P

Anxiously Waiting

ok....can you guys get here any sooner?? We have so many exciting things planned for preseason I can hardly stand it!!

Coach P

From the desk of the Assistant

First time blogging....hope you enjoy it!
I am excited for the team to come and get in the gym. Coach B is swamping me with office work!!

Heather Pennie

Welcome to UMM Volleyball 2009!

Hello All,

This is our first post on the new UMM volleyball blog. Check back soon for weekly updates on our program and season.

Thanks, Chad Braegelmann (head coach)