Senior volleyball players prep freshmen for play
Five freshmen have filled the spots left vacant by last year's graduates.
Published Aug. 31, 2007
The Missouri volleyball team opens its home schedule today without three of its biggest players from last season.
Jessica Vander Kooi, Abbie Booth and Nicole Wilson have all used their four years of eligibility. In their place are five freshmen, and this year's seniors have helped the newcomers get comfortable at the Big 12 level.
Coach Wayne Kreklow called senior libero Tatum Ailes the team's leader and great mentor.
He said she and fellow senior Na Yang do a great job of building up the freshmen's confidence and showing them how to move on the court.
"They do a great job leading by example," he said. "They put themselves in positions to gain the respect of the younger players, and they all respond."
Freshman libero Caitlyn Vann said Ailes has become a mentor to her because they play the same position. A libero is a back-row player who specializes in ball control.
Not only does Ailes help her on the court, Vann said she also helped her get settled in Columbia when she moved into her residence hall.
"Tatum's the best libero ever to play here," Vann said. "On the court she calms me down and provides good leadership. But she's also done a lot for me just getting comfortable at school. She helped me get my books, figure out the campus and everything."
Ailes said the freshmen have made learning easy because some of them are far from new to high-profile volleyball teams.
"Caitlyn and Catie (Wilson) were All-Americans in high school and played on big club teams," she said. "I think they're young, but they're all experienced."
Vann is quickly learning the libero position. She had 24 digs in her first career game last Friday at Mississippi.
Wilson had five blocks on Saturday in the win against Arkansas State.
Yang said her role has been to motivate the freshmen during matches, citing an example from last week's comeback win against Jacksonville State during the Magnolia Classic in Oxford, Miss.
"We were down two games to one, and everyone was nervous," Yang said. "I was looking at everyone, and I saw them doubting themselves. I told everyone that we were going to win, and that they just had to get the confidence to do so. And we won in five games."
Yang echoes Kreklow's feeling that the seniors are leading by example, not just with words.
"It's not just telling them what to do," she said. "I have to show them I can do more than them so that it motivates them and shows them that they can do it too if they work hard."
Wilson said the freshmen, including Weiwen Wang, Shayli Meyer and Allie Groomes — who missed last week's tournament due to injury — enjoy spending time together away from the court.
"We are all so close," she said. "We live in the same dorm, so we're always together just hanging out. There's always someone else around to do stuff with."
Ailes said she enjoys mentoring the freshmen but is still having trouble getting comfortable with her elder status.
"It's so weird to think that I've been here three years," she said. "It hasn't sunk in yet. But I guess I have been, so I just want this program to be in great shape when we leave. And it will be."