The University of Massachusetts Boston women’s volleyball spring season was brought to an end on April 9.
The volleyball team’s annual spring tournament was hosted by Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. Brandeis University and Salve Regina University also participated in the scrimmage, but were no match for the Lady Beacons as they brought the heat and finished the tournament undefeated.
The UMass Boston volleyball program has made quite a name for itself over the years. Head Coach Terry Condon is a nationally-known figure in the volleyball community. Just this year, Coach Condon was initiated into the Northeast Women’s Hall of Fame. Co-Head Coach Michael Houlihan was named the program’s first American Volleyball Coaches Association “Thirty Under 30” recipient in 2013. With two distinguished coaches, girls from all over the country come to UMass Boston to be a part of their winning program.
Under their coaching, the volleyball program has become extremely successful. Condon and Houlihan run highly competitive and intense practices during their season in the fall, but little know that the team is very active during their off-season in the spring as well.
Unlike the fall season’s every day routine, spring season practices are three days a week for five weeks straight, totaling the allotted 15 off-season practices allowed by the NCAA. These practices are catered more towards individual skills so the players are able to work on fundamentals and touch up on the basics of volleyball.
“Throughout this spring, the girls worked hard on refining their skills and coming together as a team. It’s not easy to practice for five weeks before having any games, but the team embraced this time to work towards our goals for next season! Last season ended much sooner then we planned and that became a driving force this spring,” said Houlihan.
The coaches are always changing the offense and finding ways to push the hitters into different positions and to adjust to faster, more up-tempo sets in order to throw off their opponents. Spring season gives the team a chance to work on improving the offense and trying different line-ups that could potentially be implemented into the fall season. Since the spring season tournament is only a scrimmage, the team can “test run” all the possible line-ups and new plays they worked on without worrying about it affecting their record.
“This Saturday was the time to show how much the hard work paid off! We had a great showing as a team and everyone had an opportunity to reveal how far they’ve come this spring. The coaches couldn’t be more proud of the growth we’ve seen from last year until now. We played very well and showed how much potential this team has!” said Houlihan, who was pleased with the results from the tournament.
Senior middle hitter Julia Murphy remarked on the improvement of the team chemistry this spring: “We are coming together as a team and you could see it today. After having so many new people last season, we had to all get to know each other. In the fall, I look forward to building on what we developed this spring and hope to continue to improve as a team.”
Now that another successful spring season has come to a close, the team is looking forward to a very promising fall.
Houlihan mentioned their excitement for the incoming players next year as they will add onto the success and competitiveness of the program and push the returners to strive even further.
“Our players hope to build on last season but know we must take it one day at a time. Hard work this summer will prepare us for another run at a championship,” said Houlihan.
Volleyball Season Comes to an End
The UMass Boston volleyball team huddles for a quick pep talk. Photo courtesy of Beacon Athletics.
